Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories
by Knowledgeseeker66
Summary: Understand the past, so you will know why they fight for the future. In the years prior to Stormwolfex's original "Of Science and Magics," witness Touma transform from a helpless unlucky child to the notorious Devil of Academy City and find out how his very existence affected the lives around him.
1. Story I: Birth of the Devil Part I

**Author Notes**: Welcome to my first fanfiction story. As you can tell by the title, this is a spin-off of Stormwolfex's hit fanfiction story "Of Science and Magics." In this universe, it depicts Touma and Mikoto as childhood friends rather than meeting each other in Academy City. Needless to say, a number of things about the events that unfold change drastically.

Stormwolfex gave me his consent to produce chapters that provide additional information on the history of his story. After providing me with a few details regarding Touma's backstory, it resulted in this story's creation. I hope you will enjoy, and provide reviews/feedback. It will be greatly appreciated.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Story One: Birth of the Devil – Part I

A New Life

/

I would never think

I could have friends like you two

No bad luck stopped that

/

Story Focus – Kamijou Touma

Age: 9

Location: Academy City – Child Error Institute

_It has been one month since I arrived at Academy City. My best and only friend Misaka Mikoto (a.k.a. Biribiri) had recommended that I should be sent here. This was a place that made the supernatural possible, and they would not label me as the "plague" due to my constant bad luck. It didn't take much to convince me, but I thought my father would present a problem. However, it certainly didn't take much effort to get him to agree to this idea. I suppose the near death experience I had last year with that knife wielder was probably the last straw._

_Within a few days, I was inside the city walls of Academy City. The way this place was fortified, you would think this place was a separate country from Japan. I figured I should not think about it too deeply. After all, if this city is capable of even half of the things Biribiri said it could do, they would probably need high security to reduce the chances of information leaks. Before I began to live in Academy City, I was told that I was a "Level-0" Esper who currently had no potential. However, they did tell me that it is possible I could change that with hard work and persistence. To be honest, I didn't really care about that. I simply wanted to know where I would be living, so I could start my new life._

_At first, when I found out that I would be living at a "Child Error" facility, I was really angry at the officials. I repeatedly told them that I was not abandoned by my parents. The officials kept shrugging me off by saying, "We have heard that before." After I presented them proof, they looked at me sheepishly and stated they would clear the mess up. It took them at least two weeks, but by that point I didn't want to leave anymore. At that point, I had already made two friends, Sasaki Ai and Yamasaki Yuudai._

_I first met Ai and Yuudai the day after my arrival. I was sitting by myself because despite my friendship with Biribiri, I was still unfamiliar with the whole concept. Before her, other kids were either afraid of me or were cruel to me due to my misfortune. The only other person who played with me died along with his mom because my bad luck apparently caused a car's breaks to fail. I was not complexly sure if something like that would happen here, so I kept my distance at first. However, no sooner had I thought that, a ball came flying and hit me right in the head._

_The next thing I knew, I heard a girl asking me if I was alright. She had long brown hair that was tied into a pony tail, with brown eyes, and an extremely cute face. Her face almost seemed to have a permanent blush sticker._ _ After I told her that I was fine, one of the boys told me "That sure was unlucky for you." He was about my height and age, but unlike my spiky hair he had smooth black hair that went to his shoulders, and he wore sport goggles. Upon hearing the word "unlucky," I slumped over into depression and simply responded by saying "You don't have to remind me." _

_They both looked at me with dumbfounded looks. The boy asked the girl about what my problem could be. I overheard the girl say to him, "I think you said a taboo word." Afterward the girl walked up to me and offered me her hand. She told me, "My name is Sasaki Ai and his name is Yamasaki Yuudai. What's yours?"_

_I accepted her hand, and I told her my name. She giggled and said, "That's a fine name. Do you want to play football with us?" Upon hearing those worlds, it took everything I had to stop myself from leaping for joy. I accepted her invitation, and she pulled me by my hand, and we joined the game. The game lasted for about another hour or so, but an hour was all it took. By the end of the game, I felt like I had taken a step towards forming more childhood friendships with the Child Errors, especially with Ai and Yuudai._

_Over the past few weeks, I have slowly become friends will all the other kids in the Child Error facility, especially Ai and Yuudai. I want to believe the friendships I formed with them will be like the one I formed with Mikoto. As it turns out, everyone here is a Level-0 like myself, so it doesn't look like anyone will go "crazy with power" and destroy the place. Although, based on the time I spent with them, I doubt any of them would ever wish to abuse their power. However, the best part about this whole situation is the fact my bad luck has only affected me and not anyone else. I told some of them about my past unfortunate streaks, but I left out a few details. Ai, Yuudai, and everyone else just laughed it off and jokingly called me the "embodiment of misfortune." I may not have liked that title, but this did seem like an improvement._

_Unfortunately, despite how much better my life has gotten, it makes me sad to think that these other kids were abandoned by their parents. I want to ask them about it, but my common sense stops me from saying anything. There are some things I am not meant to ask or at least not for now. As bad as it would probably sound, it makes me feel lucky that I have parents that definitely care about me. I have constantly kept in contact with my parents as well as Mikoto's mother through letters. I have more or less told them about how much things have improved, but I left out the fact that I am living in a Child Error facility. My mother and father seemed relatively pleased by what I wrote to them, and it appears my father will be going on another trip overseas relatively soon as well. Misuzu-san has told me that Mikoto is doing well and went back to Academy City for more experiments and training. Since Mikoto is busy with her own challenges, I guess I won't bother her for a little while._

_I wonder what Mikoto -_

/

"TOUMA" a nine-year-old girl said barging into the room.

"AI," Touma said with a surprised look. He then reached and closed the journal. He then shouted, "KNOCK ON MY DOOR NEXT TIME."

"Sorry, sorry," Ai said sheepishly with a smile. She then looked at Touma with curiosity. "What are you doing?"

Touma said with an embarrassed look on his face, "NOTHING . . . I mean it is nothing."

Ai gave Touma a strange look and walked over to him. She said, "Let me see it," as she tried reaching for the book.

His face started to sweat upon Ai's insistence. With a blush on his face, he firmly said, "No!"

Ai said indignantly, "Why not?"

Touma responded with some shame and embarrassment in his voice, "Because it is private."

"Even from your friend?" Ai asked acting hurt.

Touma pondered about that for a second. "Yes."

She asked pleadingly, "But why?"

Touma told her while feeling incredibly uncomfortable regarding this whole situation, "Because there are certain things I feel must be kept a secret."

After Ai heard that, it seemed to strike a chord with her. She reflected on the fact her parents abandoned her when she was five, and she never spoke about it to anyone. She can understand the feeling of wanting to keep things to yourself much more than other people. She reluctantly said to Touma with a sad voice, "I understand."

Upon seeing her said face, Touma sighed and said, "I will make you a promise."

Ai looked up with curiosity and renewed hope, "A promise?"

"Yes. We will make a pinky promise. One day when we are older, I will show you some of the stuff I have written here."

Her face beamed up after hearing that, "You mean it?"

"Yes. On the day I turn thirteen, I will show it to you. All right?" The girl nodded, and the promise was made.

After remembering why she came into Touma's room in the first place she asked, "Do you want to play some football with us?"

"Sure." Touma said with a delight tone.

/

Over the course of the game, their actions were being overseen by a woman wearing glasses with long peachy brown hair. When she took her eyes off them, a ball came flying and hit her right in the face. As a result, she fell down to the ground.

"Sorry about that," Touma said in an almost panicked tone as he ran up to the woman. "I am really, really sorry ma'am. The ball accidently got away from me," he said sheepishly.

The woman checked her glasses to ensure they were not broken and then looked up at Touma. It was only for a second, but the face he partly saw frightened him. It was something he could not describe, but yet what he saw or thought he saw felt familiar. However, almost immediately after seeing her face, she was looking at Touma with a big smile which put him at ease. She simply responded, "It's all right. These things happen." She held out the ball to him.

"_I guess she was only a little upset about getting hit in the head. I guess she's fine now,_" Touma thought to himself. Touma said somewhat nervously, "Thank you ma'am," as he graciously took the ball from her hands. After seeing her business-like attire, Touma became curious, "Do you work here ma'am?"

As she picked herself up, she responded, "Yes I do."

"My name is Kamijou Touma. What is yours ma'am?"

She seemed to show some reluctance in telling him, but she complied anyway. "My personal name is Therestina and my family name is Lifeline."

Touma seemed to be a little surprised by the woman's unusual family name, but his thoughts were interrupted by Yuudai's shouting voice, "Hey Touma! What are you doing? Are we going to continue to play this game or not?"

Touma shouted back, "Sorry be right there." Then he turned back to the lady. "Well Lifeline-san, I have to get going." He then gave her a respectful bow and said, "Thank you for not getting angry at me." Touma then left to rejoin the game.

/

As Theresatine looked upon Touma and his friend playing their game, her face slowly reverted from that appealing smiling façade she demonstrated in front of Touma. It eventually shifted into a face that revealed more malicious intentions. "Damn brats. The only purpose you are meant to serve is to gain results for our research."

Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of her cell phone. The caller ID was blocked, so she didn't know who it was, but she had a good idea. "Hello."

An old man's voice responded, "Hello granddaughter."

Therestina's facial expression did not change upon hearing the voice. "I have been expecting your call."

The old man simply asked her, "Is the boy, Kamijou Touma-chan, still in your facility's care?"

Therestina became annoyed upon hearing the boy's name, but she tried to retain her composure. "You don't have to worry. The boy is still here. I delayed the possibility of him transferring until it was clear he would stay here by choice."

The old man chuckled a little bit with satisfaction. "Good."

Wanting to understand more about the situation, Therestina asked her grandfather, "What is so important about that little brat? Why should we go through so much trouble just to keep him around? I know we need research materials, but some materials are not all what they are cracked up to be."

The old man didn't seem at all concerned with Therestina's question. "He is definitely something that will present us with interesting results."

Therestina asked in disbelief, "Why is that?"

"Because the General Director told me as much," the old man stated as a matter of fact.

Therestina was shocked upon hearing this. _"How can that be possible?"_ she thought to herself. After letting that sink in for a second, she said, "The General Director? That brat is significant enough to catch his eyes?

"Indeed. Be sure to take care of the boy for a couple of years. Make absolutely sure that his time there is as pleasant and memorable as possible. Apparently, it will be to our benefit if he continues to bond with the other Child Errors. Then the real experiment can commence," the old man said with a hint of venom in his voice.

Knowing that she has been given an order, Theresta simply stated, "I understand. I hope the results will justify this."

"Oh, they will. They will." After stating that, the old man disconnected the line, and the new phase of this long-term experiment on Touma's life began.

/

_**Omake**_

Touma: Well that ends the first chapter of the side story, so what did you think of it Biribiri

Mikoto: My name is Misaka Mikoto you idiot.

Touma: (nervously stating) Mikoto aren't you forgetting something?

Mikoto: (somewhat pissed) What?

Touma: In this continuity, you actually like me calling you Biribiri since we are childhood friends.

Mikoto: Oh right. I completely forgot. (laughs in an embarrassed fashion)

Touma: Anyway, what did you think of the chapter Biribiri?

Mikoto: I thought it was a good start, but I am disappointed that I didn't make any appearances.

Touma: Well you were mentioned a few times.

Mikoto: That isn't good enough!

Touma: Well you need to understand the author of the side story couldn't really have you properly appear in this without causing some sort of continuity error with the main story. However, he does plan on you having some appearances in future side stories.

Mikoto: (getting excited) Really?

Touma: Well it depends on how well received this story is received. People are going to need to favorite this story, review it, and make comments on it.

Mikoto: (runs to the nearest microphone) Hey you the readers! You guys better favorite and review this story! I want to get some screen time!

_**Omake End**_

/

**Disclaimer**: Needless to say, I am not the owner of "Toaru Majutsu no Index" or "A Certain Scientific Railgun." Those are the properties of Kamachi Kazuma, J.C. Staff, Seven Seas Entertainment, and Funimation.

**Author Notes**: This story may have been written by me, but it was approved by Stormwolfex, and it is considered to be "canon" to the "Of Science and Magic's" universe. You can probably consider this to be the equivalent of "Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare" since Kamachi-sensei considers those events (or at the very least Kihara Nayata's existence) to be canon.

In case you were wondering, Sasaki Ai is in fact the nameless girl that was in Touma's flashback during Chapter 9 of the main story. I thought that since she was so willing to sacrifice herself to save Touma, they must have had quite a friendship that was worth expanding upon. When I originally approached Stormwolfex regarding the idea of the side story, he gave me permission to expand upon this character as well as Touma's time in the Child Error facility. I suppose you could say she is an "ascended extra" as well as being "doomed by canon." However, writing about her, Yuudai, and these events have been an enjoyable experience for me. I believe expanding upon these events and characters helps drive the point even further regarding how tragic Touma's childhood in this story becomes. After all, he is living in what would basically be paradise to him right now, and it will be taken away later on.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you drop off some reviews for me. I look forward to reading your comments.


	2. Story I: Birth of the Devil Part II

**Author Notes**: I am glad that my side story for "Of Science and Magics" has been well-received so far. Hopefully, I will continue to please you, and there is plenty more to come after I complete "Birth of the Devil." I look forward to seeing more reviews and opinions from you.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Story One: Birth of the Devil – Part II

Paradise

/

You two are my friends

The times that we had all shared

Will remain with me

/

Story Focus – Kamijou Touma

Age: 10

Location: Academy City – Child Error Institute

_It has been about nine months since I first arrived at Academy City. I can't believe I have been here this long. However, this certainly has been the most fun I can ever remember having. Yes, I always did have fun playing with Mikoto, but we couldn't see each other every day, but here in this facility, I am living near all of the friends I made here. Every day I have spent here has helped create many new memories for me. _

_In fact, my birthday this year was one of the happiest ones I have ever had. Having more than four people wishing me a happy birthday was more than enough to make me feel special. I was able to meet my parents and Mikoto during the day, and we spent the day going to different areas of the city. After I returned to the Child Error facility, my friends also threw me a little party. I never received so many gifts before. I have heard that receiving a certain number of gifts is bad luck, but it appears I dodged that bullet that time. However, there is so much more to say about the time I have spent here._

_Academy City is definitely a city of adventure. Ai, Yuudai, and I have probably spent the greatest amount of time outside the Child Error facility than any of the others. We have been to several shopping centers, parks, and libraries. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of money, so most of the time we were only able to do things that were either free or cheap. However, that didn't really bother us._

_One time we met this albino boy who was close to our age at the park. He seemed to be extremely thin. It seemed like he hadn't eaten in days, so I decided to give him some of my lunch, which he was somewhat hesitant to accept. I introduced myself to him, but for some reason he didn't feel like telling me his name. Based on his attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if he told me his life was also filled with misfortune. When I touched his should with my right hand to comfort him, he was shocked for some reason. Maybe, he just wasn't use to the idea of someone touching him. Anyway, I did manage to convince him to play with us, but he left us to go his own way after a while. I could tell he was having fun, but it seemed like he was having a hard time trying to enjoy himself._

_Anyway, it was around this time, about seven months ago, we bumped into that nice Lifeline-san, and she asked us about what we were doing. After we told her, she actually decided to give each of us some money as a gift, and she said we didn't need to pay her back. All she told us was to not spend it all in one place. We certainly haven't, and we have made a lot of great memories thanks to her._

_A couple of weeks after receiving the gift, we all bought our own Yukatas. I bought one that was dragon-styled, Ai purchased a dog styled one, and Yuudai bought a sheep styled one. Having those Yukatas certainly made the Summer festival we attended memorable. We would have stuck out like a sore thumb if we wore regular clothing. As I would have guessed, I did not have any luck winning the games I participated in. Ai and Yuudai on the other hand seemed to fair pretty well. In fact, they even joked that I must have absorbed the misfortune for all three of us. They were probably right about that. Anyway, they shared a couple of their prizes with me as a reward for being a "misfortune sponge." It may not have been the best way to get a prize, but I was grateful for getting something._

_A few weeks after that festival, we actually got to see a real-live Anti-Skill in action. One time we got lost on our way back to the Child Error facility, and there were these jerks that surrounded us and wanted us to "pay up for walking in their turf." However, this lady with long blue hair that went down to her thighs and wore a green track suit apparently noticed our situation and intervened. Her name was Yomikawa Aiho._

_When they saw her they just laughed at her and said something about playing around with her later. I wonder what they meant by that. Anyway, in less than a minute, Yomikawa-san had punched all their lights out. I was impressed by how fast her reflexes were and how strong she was. Those nobodies never stood a chance against her._

_Other Anti-Skill arrived within a few minutes of this event and arrested all of them. Yomikawa was kind enough to escort us back to the Child Error facility. On the way back, I asked Yomikawa about those jerks, and she told me they were simply a bunch of punks that were desperate for money. Apparently, they had been abandoned by their families as well. When I heard that, I felt like Ai, Yuudai, and the others would probably be able to understand those people. It makes me wonder if being under the care of the Child Error facility along with kind caretakers, such as Lifeline-san, is the only thing preventing people, such as Ai and Yuudai, from becoming like them. _

_On the way back, Yomikawa warned us of another group to stay away from. Apparently, they are known as the "Skill-Out." According to Yomikawa, most of them are Level-0's like myself who turned to a life of crime due to being alienated by Academy City. Upon hearing the word "alienate," I felt like I could somewhat understand them as well. If I had not met Mikoto, Ai, Yuudai, or any of my other friends at the Child Error Facility, who knows what my life would be like now. Perhaps these friendships are the only things that are stopping me from going down that road._

_When we finally arrived back at the Child Error facility, I lowered by head and thanked Yomikawa-san. She just laughed and told me that it was part of her job. Yomikawa-san also told me there was a decent chance we might meet again in the future. Apparently, she works as a teacher in one of the high schools. We decided not to say goodbye. Instead, we decided to say "See ya later." I certainly hope to meet her again._

_While I may not care too much about Esper abilities, and I am sure I will not be gaining one, I have to admit having one would be convenient. This whole situation reminded me of when I first met Mikoto. She was able to shock my attacker with her powers. However, when Ai, Yuudai, and I were surrounded by those people, I was completely helpless. I appreciate Yomikawa-san for saving us, but I know that I need to be able do something eventually. I do not care whether it is having a useful ability or simply having fighting skills, I need to be able to do something when either myself or my friends are in danger. Yomikawa-san is definitely my inspiration for this. She is my proof that with the proper skills, even I can accomplish something._

_Before we went our separate ways, I told Yomikawa-san that I might want to become an Anti-Skill when I am older, so I could help people as well. She chuckled a little and patted me on the head. Yomikawa-san simply told me that it is a worthy goal, but she told me not to put too much thought into it right now. When I asked her why, she simply told me to enjoy my childhood while I still had one. She said that this is supposed to be an extremely precious time for me now, and I should not waste it. I think I will take her advice for now. I have a feeling my parents would probably feel the same way as well._

_Speaking of whom, I have remained in contact with them as well as with Misuzu-san. I keep sending letters once every few weeks. Thanks to Misuzu-san, I was finally able to send a letter directly to Mikoto. It appears things have been going well for her. After all that hard work she had put in, she had reached Level-3, and she will be eligible to attend Tokiwadai Middle School in a few years since being at least a Level-3 is a requirement. _

_That does make me feel very happy for her, but I am also concerned for her. This has left me wondering about the possibility that Mikoto might not be able to experience enough fun of her own for her childhood. However, Misuzu-san has told me that she sees to it that Mikoto is still able to enjoy her childhood despite all the tests and experiments. When I read Misuzu-san's letter I was relieved. Now I can feel less guilty about all of fun I have been having in the Child Error facility while Mikoto's going through all that training._

_This night in particular is going to be especially fun, and I am really excited about it. There is going to be a massive meteor shower. Ordinarily, you would have a hard time seeing the night sky due to light pollution. However, a majority of the city is apparently going to have their lights turned off for the event. It does seem somewhat odd that this place would do that since it could give robbers a fine opportunity. However, I guess since Japan generally has a relatively low crime rate and the fact the alarm systems would still go off, they probably do not mind too much and are not too worried about thieves._

/

Touma then heard a knock on his door. He closed his book and responded, "Come in. The door is unlocked."

After hearing that, the door opened and Yuudai entered the room. He spoke to Touma in an excited voice, "Touma it's almost time! Are you coming?"

"Yeah let's get going." Touma got up from his desk, put on his jacket and followed Yuudai up to the roof.

/

When Touma and Yuudai arrived at the roof, they saw Ai was already waiting for them along with some of the other Child Errors. Almost all of them were wearing scarves, winter hats, and thick jackets. Everyone was spread out and so involved in their own conversations that they would fail to notice the exchange between these three friends.

"Writing in your journal again Touma?" Ai asked curiously.

"More or less." Touma said with a chuckle. "So tonight's really the night huh?"

"Yep. Its suppose to be absolutely beautiful," Ai said with such excitement in her voice.

"I can't believe they literally turned off almost all of the lights in the city," Touma said as he looked around the surrounding area.

Yuudai said in a matter of fact tone, "That is true. It is almost as if someone heard our conversation a few weeks ago about needing all the lights off in the icy to see the meteor show. Although, I suppose astrology is part of science too."

Ai looked at Touma's expression and asked, "Are you feeling okay Touma?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You seem distracted by something."

Touma remained silent for a moment and sighed. "I guess I just wanted Biribiri to be here as well."

Ai got a little jealous when she heard that. "She's that friend of yours you have mentioned before right?"

"Yeah. In fact, I recently got a letter regarding her progress. Her Esper development has been going very well. All that hard work she puts into those experiments and training has been paying off. Apparently, she donated some of her DNA to help some scientists with a medical experiment."

After hearing this, Ai was becoming visibly upset, and she began forming a fist that did not go unnoticed by Touma or Yuudai.

"So glad to hear she is so needed, loved, and successful in Academy City," she said in a clearly sarcastic tone.

"Ai," Touma said in a concerned voice.

"She is on top of everyone's lists: the funders, the researchers, the trainers, and yours. That girl will always be the one in the limelight. Who gets to make all that progress and become someone of importance while people like me remain a Level-0? She does! Who has loved ones that will support her every single step while there is practically no one for us? She will! Who is the person you bring up at almost every single opportunity? She is!" Ai said with an increasingly bitter tone.

Touma did not really know what to say, "Ai I don't . . ."

Ai cut Touma off, "No you do not, and you never will." She then turned to walk away only for Yuudai to stop her by grabbing her hand."

Ai was caught off-guard by this notion, "Yuudai."

"Don't go Ai. Touma has his reasons for not understanding."

"What do you mean?" Touma asked with a puzzled expression.

"As you know, we do not have parents. We were abandoned in Academy City for one reason or another. The friends we have here are the only things we have that are even close to qualifying as family."

"Let me go, I don't want to hear anymore," Ai said while struggling to keep her voice in check to avoid any unwanted attention.

"No you need to hear this too. You need to understand Touma as much as he needs to understand you." Yuudai turned back around to continue speaking with Touma. "You see, whenever you talk about your friend Mikoto or your parents, it is a constant reminder of how you have had the things we never had the chance to have which are loved ones beyond this facility."

The words began to sink in for Touma. "I see. I suppose that would make someone angry. Well I suppose I like talking about them because they gave me some of the best memories I could have hoped for before I met you two."

After hearing this, Ai seemed to come to an understanding of her own, "Oh," she said softly. Upon seeing this, Yuudai let go of her hand without worrying whether she would walk away or not.

Before I met Mikoto, my parents were my only source of comfort. I never had any friends before I met her, and I had been constantly bullied. I came to Academy City to have a fresh start, and to make some friends. When I befriended you guys, I just knew that coming to Academy City was the right thing for me. I will admit that I wish I could spend some more time with Mikoto. However, I would never want to erase the time I have spent with you two. I hope we will always remain friends."

Ai's expression softened a bit upon hearing this.

"Whenever, I would hear good thing from my parents or Mikoto, I just feel so happy I need to tell someone else, and you guys come to mind immediately. I never thought I was being insensitive."

Yuudai said with a smile, "It's okay Touma."

Ai also smiled, "I understand. I guess I might have been a little overly sensitive."

"It's okay Ai. I understand where you are coming from. I probably would have reacted in the same manner. However, if I do mention Mikoto or my parents in the future, there won't be any problems will there?" Touma asked somewhat timidly.

Ai and Yuudai both shook their heads.

"Do not worry about not becoming someone important either. If we work together, we can definitely become people of value in Academy City regardless of what our Esper Levels ultimately end up to be. I promise to uphold this. Will you two as well?"

Both Ai and Yuudai said at the same time, "Promise," and the promise was made.

No sooner had the trio cleared the air, the most beautiful meteor shower had begun. It was like seeing hundreds of streaks of pure white light moving across the sky.

"It's so pretty," Ai said in amazement.

"It sure is," Yuudai stated. "We should probably make a wish. With that both Ai and Yuudai closed their eyes for a few seconds and made their wishes."

They both turned around and asked Touma, "Did you make a wish yet?"

Touma said, "No. Something like this isn't for me. I doubt my luck would allow any wish to come true."

Yuudai shrugged his shoulders, "Touma this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The very fact you are watching this must mean your life is filled with more than misfortune. Maybe this is the break that you have been hoping for."

Touma reluctantly agreed with those words. Just before the meteor show came to a close, Touma made his wish, _"I want us to remain friends like this forever. I want to keep experiencing new things with my friends, and I want to make more in the future. Please make this wish come true."_

With that the wish was made, and the trio has taken another step forward in their friendship which would remain for another year. During that time, Touma's wish was coming true. His friendships with Ai, Yuudai, and the other Child Errors continued to grow, and the trio continued having many outings to different locations in Academy City. Of course, Touma would occasionally still face the misfortune of his face becoming acquainted with a ball (either a football or a snowball), slipping on wet floors, or tripping on a crack in the sidewalk. Aside from that, Touma believed he was living in paradise. Besides, he didn't mind being the "butt monkey" among his friends because now he actually had more than one.

/

_More than One Year Later_

Yuudai was acting more enthusiastic than usual. He asked Touma and Ai if they wanted to practice some football with him again. While they didn't share his enthusiasm, they did want to play. Luckily for the trio, even though it was winter, the Child Error facility had a dome over the football field, so they did not have to worry about the cold weather. While they were on their way to the football field, they noticed that they were passing Therestina Kihara Lifeline. All three of them called out to her and said with a smile, "Good morning Lifeline-san."

Therestina returned the smile and said, "Good morning."

With that the three continued their way to the football field. After the trio left her sight, Therestina's smile once again transformed into visible disgust. She thought to herself, _"I can hardly stand putting up with those brats anymore. The only reason why I have given any comforts to them whatsoever is for the sake of this project. I would never have given them one yen if it wasn't necessary. It has been nearly two years since I was told to practically be their caretaker. I don't know how much I can bear to even look at them. All they do is smile and have fun without a single care in the world. They are supposed to be our test subjects. If I do not hear anything from the higher-ups soon, I will take action on my own and damn the consequences. I do not care if any of them die at all as long as I am satisfied."_

Almost as if someone had read her mind, her phone rang. After she opened it, she heard a familiar voice, "Thank you for your patience granddaughter. The time has finally come to proceed."

Therestina was shocked to finally hear this, but it filled her with joy at the same time. "I can finally put an end to this whole façade."

The voice stated, "Correct," in a manner of fact tone.

A smile formed on Therestina's face that no one could possibly describe, except that it might even make the Joker feel uncomfortable, "Oh that is what I have been waiting to hear. The next phase will continue tomorrow night."

"Excellent. I trust that you do not need me to remind you of the objective."

"Of course not," Therestina replied with the upmost confidence. "The paradise these brats have been enjoying shall finally come to an end."

/

_**Omake**_

Mikoto: Well that was an interesting way to end the chapter.

Touma: The writer was partly inspired to end it that way based on a scene from one of his favorite video games.

Mikoto: Which one was that?

Touma: Kingdom Hearts 2. It involved one of the major antagonists asking his boss, Xemnas, if he could end his charade before engaging the hero, Sora, and his friends in combat to which Xemnas approved of.

Mikoto: Well that is interesting.

Touma: Don't act too surprised. After all, a number of known manga authors have more or less claimed they were inspired by Dragon Ball. I am willing to bet ten or twenty years down the line, manga authors will be claiming they were influenced by these current day manga authors instead. Inspiration can really be triggered by many things after all.

Mikoto: Wait a minute!

Touma: What is it?

Mikoto: Why are you the one who knows all this stuff and not me?

Touma: The author of this side story decided to let me know these things instead of you.

Mikoto: DAMN YOU AUTHOR!

Touma: Don't take it out too much on the author. Since the story is currently focused on me, it is only natural he would tell me these things.

Mikoto: I guess that's true.

Touma: You should probably apologize. If you act too cruelly to the author, you might not get any screen time despite you being his second favorite character.

Mikoto: (Panicked) I AM SORRY AUTHOR! PLEASE DON'T WRITE ME OFF FOR THAT OUTBURST!

Touma: (his phone rings and he hears someone on the other line) Don't worry. The author heard you and accepts your apology. He did not take any offense to your comment, and this story will continue as planned.

Mikoto: (relieved) That's good.

Touma: Unfortunately, that means you will not be getting any screen time anytime soon.

Mikoto: Even though I am listed as one of the main characters?

Touma: I am sorry. (Looks out to the audience) Please bear with us.

_**Omake End**_

**Disclaimer**: Needless to say, I am not the owner of "Toaru Majutsu no Index" or "A Certain Scientific Railgun." Those are the properties of Kamachi Kazuma, J.C. Staff, Seven Seas Entertainment, and Funimation.

**Author Notes**: Well that brings us the end of part two of the story. Originally, when I started out writing this, the story was originally going to be only three parts, but after I got into it, the story really began to expand. Even after I am done with this particular story, I can see myself going back to it in the future. After all, the purpose of the story is meant to explain why Touma became the "Devil of Academy City" as well as to draw a contrast between what he is now to what he shall become.

Personally, I find myself wanting to further explore Touma's relationship with his friends. The relationships we form do shape the people we become after all, and this chapter seemed to be a good opportunity to explain why Touma is somewhat more genre-savvy in the main story. By having friends like Ai and Yuudai, he was able to be more sensitive and understand people with greater ease. I tried to make their confrontation as realistic as possible. It may not be completely realistic, but I did keep in mind that they are still children who have been through a lot. The things they go through could easily have an interesting affect on the rate of their maturity.

If you are wondering why no one else got involved, as I stated in the story all of the other Child Errors were involved in their own conversations and there are a great deal of them. Since all the talking was pretty loud, it was easy for this conflict to go unnoticed. Additionally, Ai may have sounded bitter, but she did not shout out loud. She may want people to notice her, but she has standards to what kind of attention she brings to herself.

The next chapter has been difficult for me to complete, but I hope you will be satisfied with it after I post it up.


	3. Story I: Birth of the Devil Part III

**Author Notes**: This chapter certainly took me quite a while to write. I certainly have a better understanding how other fan fiction authors, such as Stormwolfex, Flere821, or Stellar Magic must feel whenever they are writing a chapter for one of their fan fiction stories. The process can be time consuming, but it is both creative and fun. After it is all over, the end result feels satisfying.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Story One: Birth of the Devil – Part III

End of Paradise: Bloodbath

/

It was all perfect

My time with the two of you

Was truly a gift

/

Story Focus – Kamijou Touma

Age: 11

Location: Academy City – Child Error Institute

_Touma found himself in a room where the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling were stained with blood. The sight of this made Touma quiver in fear, and he couldn't even bring himself to blink. He looked around the room to see if there was anyone else alive._

"_Hello," Touma shouted at the top of his lungs. "Is anyone here?"_

_The sound of his voice echoed throughout the area, but there was no response. Almost on impulse Touma legs began moving on their own. He kept shouting hoping someone would hear his voice. There was nothing but silence in the air except for the splashing of the blood puddles he kept stepping in. Eventually, he heard a drop of something that sounded like water close by. As Touma continued to press forward, the sound kept getting louder._

"_Ai! Yuudai! Is that you?!" Touma shouted._

_No sooner had Touma said that he found what appeared to be someone lying in a puddle of blood. As much as Touma didn't want to see someone's corpse, he needed to know if this person was actually dead or not. After he got closer to the body, his worst fear had been realized. The corpse belonged to Ai. Her body was beaten, stabbed, and violated. The sight was nothing Touma had ever seen before in his life. He has witnessed death before, but nothing could have prepared him for a sight like that. Touma's breathe quickened and he began to hyperventilate. He couldn't believe what he was seeing._

"_This can't be happening. This cannot be real. NNNOOOO!" his anguish filled the entire room._

/

"Touma! Touma! Wake up! Touma," Touma immediately woke up from his nightmare to see Ai standing next to his bed with a concerned look.

"Ai?!" Touma said unsure if what he was looking at was real or not.

"Touma are you okay? You were crying and shouting while you were asleep."

"Is this real? Are you the real Ai?"

Ai looked perplexed by this odd statement. "What do you mean? Of course this is real."

Touma got out of his bed and hugged Ai as hard as he could, "Oh thank God!"

Ai was a little embarrassed by this, but she did not particularly dislike this, "Touma what has gotten into you. Did you have a nightmare?"

Touma responded, "Yes I did and . . .," Touma tried to think of what to say next but he wasn't sure what to say. "I can't remember what happened. All I know is that it was horrific. I can't remember any of the details."

"It's all right Touma. I read that most people forget a significant amount of their dreams within the first minute or so of waking. It is extremely rare to be able to completely recall all of the details. Maybe it will come back to you later on."

"I am not too sure if I would want that."

"Why not?"

"All I can remember is seeing red. I am not too sure, but it could have been blood. The thought of blood is too much for me to handle."

"Oh." After a few seconds of awkward silence, Ai tried to change the subject. "Well let's forget about that for now. Is there something you want to do?"

Touma's eyes opened up remembering his objective. "Yes I do. I need to go to the mall, so I can get my father a birthday present. Unfortunately, his business trip will leave him unable to get back home in time for his birthday a week from now, but it will be waiting for him when he gets back."

"Your father certainly goes on a lot of business trips."

This caused Touma to laugh. "He really does. Whenever, he does come home he apparently brings home some really weird souvenirs. I know it is customary for him to bring back souvenirs for family and friends, but according to what my mom has told me, they are really out of this world. Apparently, if I were to go into the house, it would almost look like he is getting prepared to open his own gift shop."

"That certainly sounds funny." However, Ai thought about what Touma said, "How often have you seen your parents over this past year and a half anyway?"

Touma thought about it for a moment, "Well they have come to visit me three times, but as you know I have not stepped foot out of Academy City once since I came here."

"Don't you ever think that it is weird?"

"What?"

"I don't know too many things about this type of stuff, but it seems like it is relatively difficult for outsiders to get into Academy City, even if they are the parents of an Esper or a student in some other kind of training. You have mentioned yourself that they have had difficulties getting into Academy City."

"It is true it seems strange, but this city has technology and secrets that I am sure they don't want to spread out too easily."

"I suppose." Ai seemed to ponder it for a little longer, but decided it was best to change the subject. "Anyway, would you like me to keep you company at the mall?"

"Sure I would love for you to come."

"Do you think Yuudai would like to come as well?"

"I don't think so. I talked to Yuudai last night and he apparently has been working on something, and he wanted to be to himself today. He said that he wants to show us later though."

"If that is the case, then let's get going."

/

_After a half hour of walking the duo arrived at the nearest underground mall._

"So what exactly are we looking for Touma?"

"That is actually a good question. My father has been all over the world and with all the objects he supposedly collects it could be difficult to choose a desirable gift."

"What are his interests?" Ai asked Touma curiously.

Touma put his hand to his chin while he thought about what he should say. "I do remember a few of his interests from before I came here. However, I have not really kept up-to-date on either of my parent's interests other than the fact my father really enjoys traveling and my mother likes spending time at that fitness club with Mikoto's mother."

Ai said, "I see."

Touma then said, "In all the letters we have sent to each other I have only stated what has been going on in my life, such as the time I have spent with you and Yuudai. I never really thought about asking them questions. I guess I was always so wrapped up in the idea of enjoying my life at the Child Error facility with only occasionally facing bad luck, I forgot to ask them about more important things. I guess I was a little selfish."

Ai listened to what Touma had to say and thought about what she should say. "I guess you could look at it that way, but also telling them your life is good when it is does make them happy doesn't." Ai's words seemed to resonate with Touma. "After all, they wanted you to be happy in Academy City. Just be more conscious of this and be sure to ask them questions in the future."

"I will be sure to do that. If I don't, they could turn out to be completely different people from I you remember them. That would probably make my memories of that person somewhat useless." Touma and Ai exchanged a brief colorful laugh. "You know it amazes me sometimes that you are only a year older than me, but you seem to be much more mature when it comes to this kind of subject."

"Well over the past year after that shooting star incident, I realized that I needed to be more understanding of the people around me and not always focus on my point of view all the time. You are kind of like that as well. I might be more mature right now, but I am sure you will catch up quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if you become capable of giving momentous life changing speeches when you grow up."

"Life changing speeches?" Touma said in amusement.

"You would be surprised how people can change when their flaws are pointed out. After all, that is what happened with me, and both you and Yuudai are partly to thank for that. I wouldn't be surprised if you are able to change a lot of people's hearts."

Touma burst out laughing, "That sounds incredibly corny."

"To an extent yes, but it is capable of happening."

"Anyway, back to the task at hand, I really need to find something good. Mind helping me come up with a good idea."

"Sure." Ai said with a smile.

_The two spent a few hours in the mall checking out different items Touma's father might like. Finally, they found the "perfect gift" and sent it to Touma's house. Afterwards, they decided they did not want to simply go back to the Child Error facility too soon._

"So Touma what do you think the future will bring for you."

"Besides some more bad luck, I do not really want to think about it too much right now."

"Why not?"

"Remember the Anti-Skill lady who helped us that time, Yomikawa-san?"

"Of course."

"When I told her that I was interested in becoming an Anti-Skill like her to help protect people from thugs and skill-outs, she told me it is something I could consider, but it is also something that I should not worry about that right now. Our time of being kids is brief, and we have plenty of time to think about our future. For now, I want to simply follow her advice. Maybe, I will start giving more consideration to my future after I turn thirteen."

No sooner had Touma said that snow began to fall.

"Hey Touma look it is starting to snow."

"This is the first snow fall of the season."

Ai's enthusiasm for the snow was unparalleled to anyone Touma had ever known. "I love the snow. It is so white, pure, and beautiful. I want to grow up one day and hear people say that I remind them of the beauty of snow."

Touma said with a smile, "I can see that happening."

Touma's comment made Ai flustered. "Don't make fun of me Touma."

"I'm not. You're a very good person, and seeing you as you are, I think you will grow up to be someone like that," Touma said defensively.

His response caused Ai to laugh. "I guess it is your turn to be deep and mature isn't it?"

Touma was somewhat embarrassed to hear that, but he decided to simply accept it. "I suppose so."

They had a good chuckle. Then Ai held out her hand to catch some of the snow. "Touma do you read a lot."

"Not really why?," wondering what Ai was getting at.

After catching some snow, she turned to Touma and said, "Well it is just that I have read some books and some manga over the past few years, and they have shown snow to represent some of the beautiful things in life as well as the darker things."

"Like what?"

"Like love."

Touma laughed a little upon hearing that. "Aren't we a little too young to be thinking like that?"

"Maybe but that does not stop me from fantasizing about it." Her innocent eyes seemed to be gazing into some kind of fantasy at that moment. "I can't help but think that snow will be connected to the person I might come to love someday."

Touma said with a grin, "It would be befitting for your name, right?"

"Huh?"

"Your personal name, Ai, means 'love' right?"

"Yeah that's right."

"Perhaps some things like that could be a little bit more than a coincidence."

"You might be right," Ai said with a chuckle. However, something about that caused Ai to think deeply about something.

Touma noticed that something appeared to be bothering Ai and said, "Are you okay? You seem to be distracted by something."

"No I'm fine. I was just thinking about how long we have known each other. It has been about two years right?"

"That sounds about right. Time certainly flies by. This has certainly been the most fun I have ever had."

"It makes me happy to hear you say that Touma, but you always make me curious about why you keep saying that." After she saw Touma have a negative reaction to her statement, she tried to correct what she was saying. "I mean I know this isn't any of my business, and you have told us parts of your past already. About how you were bullied and unlucky, but it has always led me to becoming more curious about what your life was like before Academy City. I am only curious because you are my friend, and I want to understand why thinking of your past causes you pain. However, I don't want to force you to tell me if it will only make it worse. If you ever need someone to listen, Yuudai and I will be there."

This caused Touma to think for a good long moment. "You know. It is not like I didn't want to tell you. I felt more like I couldn't."

This caused Ai to become confused, "What do you mean?"

"All this time, I felt like if I told you about certain events of my past, it would be unfair to you and Yuudai. I always thought that since your parents abandoned you, telling you anything would be seen as an attempt to present myself as simply trying to win your sympathies. I didn't want you guys to become friends with me because of that. For a similar reason, I never asked you about your past because I knew it would most likely be painful for you. I wanted our friendships to be built as normal as any other friendships people can form." With that Touma couldn't help but look down at his feet. It was almost as if he couldn't bring himself to look Ai straight in the face.

Ai grabbed Touma's chin and had him look up at her. "Silly. You don't have to think like that anymore. You might have a point, but I think we are past that stage now. It is true some secrets are better off kept but sometimes it is fine to confide in your friends as well. Especially those you trust. I trust you and Yuudai with my life Touma. That feeling will not change. Not now. Not ever."

Touma looked to see Ai's smiling face was only six inches from his. This caused Touma to react in a comical fashion and fall to the ground. Ai at first was concerned that Touma hurt himself, however, Touma just started to laugh. "You're right. I trust you with my life too Ai. It would be foolish of me to think otherwise. There is something very specific I think I should tell you, but I need to tell Yuudai as well."

Ai wasn't really sure how to respond as she helped Touma up from the ground other than saying, "Okay."

Touma looked at Ai and said, "You want to head back."

"Yeah let's get going. It is getting too cold out here."

/

In a facility three miles away from the Child Error facility, Therestina was wearing a disguise with a wig that made her hair appear to be black instead orange and she wore clothing that was different from her usual style as well. Even people who know her, would have a hard time knowing it was her. She was waiting for her hired help to arrive.

"I am glad you were able to come here on such short notice Ketsueki-san."

Five Espers entered the room, and the one who was clearly the leader spoke. "Oh it is my pleasure Kagakusha-san. Do you ever plan on telling me your name you lovely _woman_? Or are you simply going to keep going by your alias Kagakusha?" He added a strange emphasis to the word woman that made even Therestina cringe.

The man that stood before her was Ketto Ketsueki. He had an intimidating appearance was with a scar that went across his forehead and one scar on his neck. The man stood at about five feet and ten inches, and his hair was as wild as his personality. His hair was dark with a number of red strips dyed in, and it fell down to his shoulders. His clothing was a mixture of dark and gray, and he carried around a switchblade at all times. It was almost as if the switchblade was his best friend. The eyes he had were blood red as if to reflect a craving for blood. It was for blood that would satisfy not only himself but to feed his best friend.

His lackeys were not much to look at. Their heights ranged from about five feet and five inches to five feet and nine inches. Fudo had a burning scar on his face where his left eye should have been. It was covered by an eye patch. Kano was muscular with no scars on his face, but his chest was a completely different story altogether. Miki had a scar on his right check, and long flowing brown hair that went down to his backside. Finally, Ookami had three scars on his face. One above the right side of his lip, one between his eyebrows, and the last one went from one inch away from his left eye down to his jaw. It would appear he too like Fudo was extremely close to losing his eye from a previous encounter.

There were two things that all of Ketsueki's lackeys had in common. One, they had long ago abandoned their family names not wishing to be associated with people they considered to be lesser beings. Two, they were completely loyal to Ketsueki's whims and commands. The only thing that stood above him was this scientist in front of them since she is the one responsible for their powers. However, they are not loyal to Ketsueki out of passion but out of fear. Ketsueki claimed the right to leadership after defeating all four of them in an all out brawl. Not all of the scars that were inflicted upon these men were due to their many missions of the past. In fact, more than half of them were given to them personally by Ketsueki.

"As long as you are providing your 'services' to me and are receiving my aid in your Esper development, you will never know what my real name is."

"Oh is that so. Maybe I should force you to tell me someday."

"Do you really think I would engage you even in a simple conversation without taking some kind of precautions? I know exactly what is needed to take you down with barely lifting a figure." Her way of saying that even got Ketsueki nervous.

Ketsueki relented and said, "Fine. What is the job you want us to perform for you this time."

Therestina handed Ketsueki a document and said, "I want you to attack this Child Error facility. There is one specific person I do not want you to kill. I can't give you specifics, but as you can see from this document this person has been given the code name 'Imagine Breaker,' and my superiors prefer him to be alive. However, everyone else who resides in that facility is free game. Kill, injure, torture, I really don't care. Only this person cannot be killed. If you want to hurt him, that is fine, but make sure he will be able to live long enough for a hospital to give him emergency care."

Ketsueki said, "Is that all? Then consider it done Kagakusha-san?"

After saying that, Ketsueki and his lackey's left the building to complete their job.

/

After exiting the building, Ketsueki's lackeys didn't know the meaning of 'keep your mouths shut.'

Fudo simply laughed out loud and said, "What an easy gig this will be?"

Kano said, "I know right. Killing a bunch of Level-0s at that Child Error facility will be a piece of cake."

Miki on the other hand wasn't so sure, "Which Child Error facility was it exactly? She never did specify which one it was? I don't mind killing, but I would rather not kill those I am not being paid to kill."

"That's right. She never did specify which one it was." Ookami called out to Ketsuki, "Hey Ketsuki did that scientist give you any specifics."

Ketsuki turned around with a smug grin on his face and held the documents in his hand, "Of course she did you idiot. It's the one three miles east of here. She said that she was fine if we killed them all except for this one kid. Apparently, he's worth something. It doesn't matter to me in the least what happens to him after this, but this seems like an experience that will really quench my thirst."

With that they got into their car, and drove off to complete their mission. The only reason they spoke so freely was because there didn't appear to be anyone in the immediate vicinity. Additionally, it was also their arrogance. They believed that even if someone did hear them, there would be no one who could actually stop them. Ketsuki and his lackeys were all Level-3s, and Ketsuki was a borderline Level-4. Apparently, if he kept using his powers effectively, he would probably become a Level-4 within a month or two.

Luckily, they were wrong on both accounts. There was someone who was listening to them. It was a spy who was paid by Komaba Ritoku and Kurozuma Wataru to track these people down. The boy may have only been around twelve years old, but he was a freelance spy that would work for anyone and everyone that was willing to hire him and pay him. Even if it would mean he would be working for opposing organizations at the same time. However, his ability to get the job done was so effective it didn't matter to anyone even if they knew the truth of this spy's nature.

He was hired by Skill-Out because this group's rampages across Academy City had become too much to ignore and needed to be neutralized. That was a judgment the spy agreed with personally. Interestingly, he even offered to do this particular job for Skill-Out at a 25% discount. However, those that knew him on a more personal level would probably have an easier time understanding why.

While even he wasn't able to enter the facility himself, he was able to successfully track down Ketsuki and his gang in less than 24 hours after being given the assignment. The spy covertly planted a tracking device on Ketsuki's car while they were in the facility and was going to tail them, but apparently that was no longer necessary. He heard the whole thing, and he promptly called his employer. "Hello Koma-kun. It's me Tsuchimikado Motoharu. I just learned something that I think you need to hear."

/

During the time their future was being decided for them by others, Touma, Ai and Yuudai decided it was finally time to explain their pasts to each other. Shortly after Touma and Ai returned to the Child Error facility, they found Yuudai, who seemed really excited and wanted to show them something he had been working on. However, Touma told him there was something they needed to talk about first. Touma said that he felt it was about time they finally told each other what led them to coming to the Child Error facility in the first place. Yuudai seemed somewhat hesitant at first, but he reluctantly agreed to it. After all, they had known each other for nearly two years, and the time did seem appropriate. Touma decided he would be the first volunteer.

After he cleared his throat, Touma nervously said, "Everything I said about my misfortune and being bullied was true, but I left out many details. In fact, there were a few times it was much worse than I told you. Before I came to Academy City, my misfortune was not only limited to me. It affected almost everyone around me."

Yuudai said, "How so?"

"There was this time I shook the hand of a business owner who went bankrupt less than two hours later. He was superstitious and tried to kill me. This TV program heard about this man's attack on me and decided to cover it. Without my parent's permission, the program released pictures of me. After that, I was either alienated by others or beaten."

Ai was shocked upon hearing this, "That's terrible."

"That wasn't even the worst part."

"How could it be worse than that?" Yuudai asked Touma.

"There was this one time when I was eight years old, another kid decided to play with me because he felt sorry for me. We were starting to have fun when all of a sudden a car's breaks gave out. The kid's mother tried to save him, but for some reason the car exploded. There was no reason why it should have exploded, but it did. It made absolutely no sense. That was the first time I had ever witnessed a death."

Ai asked Touma with a concerned look on her face, "Then what happened?"

"The father confronted me two days later and told me I shouldn't exist and tried to stab me with a knife, but I was saved."

Ai asked, "You don't mean?"

"Yes I do. That was the day I first met Mikoto. She saved my life that day by using her powers to stun the man, and it gave my father the chance to take care of him. After that, Mikoto and I became friends. Eventually, she told me I needed to go to Academy City, so I could escape from my hometown. My parents agreed to send me to Academy City without too much trouble. Due to some sort of mistake I ended up in this Child Error facility, but by the time the mistake was fixed, I didn't want to leave."

Both Ai and Yuudai were silent for a few moments before Yuudai decided to break the silence. "That's quite a story."

"Do you not believe me?"

Ai said right away, "No I believe you. I have no reason not to believe you." She gave Touma a hug which surprised Touma very much. "You have the right to exist. Everyone has a right to exist. You're a good person. I don't care if you are the most unlucky person in the whole world. You are still my friend, and nothing will ever change that." Touma didn't know what to say, but he decided to return the hug.

Afterwards, he received a pat on the shoulder from Yuudai, "We will always be friends. You can count on me too."

After the hug between Touma and Ai broke up, he just took a good look at his friends, and said, "Thank you."

After they let the moment run its course, they decided that it was Ai's turn to tell her story. Ai summarized her story in one short and disturbing sentence. "I was sold!"

"What?" Touma said with a completely confused look. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Just like I said, I was sold." Ai said with a grim look on her face.

This time Touma didn't say a word and let Ai continue.

Ai's eyes may not have had tears in her eyes, but anyone could tell that she was crying on the inside. "I don't remember too much about my parents because I was only five years old at the time. However, I remember we were very poor. These men would come visit my parents. Now that I look back on it, I guess they were probably debt collectors or something. Anyway, our family was barely able to make ends meet until someone different showed up at our doorstep one day."

"Was it someone from Academy City?" Yuudai asked.

"Yes. He offered my parents a considerable sum of money in exchange for giving me away to Academy City to live in this Child Error facility. My parents accepted the deal right on the spot, and I left with the man less than a half hour later." Ai seemed to be on the verge of crying. "I have never seen my parents since, and until recently I have never wanted to see them again."

"You mean, you actually want to see them now?" Touma asked. "But why?"

"It's because I need to confront them on what they did. Depending on the answer they give me, I may choose to forgive them. I understand that this world can be a cruel place, but there are many good things about it as well. I want to know if they ever regretted their decision and if they really cared about me. I need to know."

This time it was Touma's turn to hug Ai. He told her, "You don't have to do that alone. We can go together. You, Yuudai, and I can all face them together."

Yuudai patted Ai's shoulder and said, "That's right. I will always have your back."

Ai said with a smile, "Thanks I really appreciate it."

"You know there is probably someone we should probably also thank for this."

After a few moments, it was Yuudai's turn to tell his story. He first cleared his throat and said, "Well my story doesn't involve anything that happened in your stories. I never knew or saw who my parents were. I was told that my mother was a teenager who became pregnant with me, and she offered me up for adoption. Apparently, the people from the Child Error facility decided to take me in. This has been the only world I have ever really known."

Touma decided to ask Yuudai, "If you had a chance to meet your mother, would you?"

Yuudai responded, "Probably. I know things couldn't have been easy for her, so I guess I can forgive her. However, that is not my priority."

Ai asked curiously, "What is?"

Yuudai said, "I want to meet the person who runs this facility and thank them."

Touma asked, "Do you know the name of the person who runs this place?"

"Yes I do. That person's name is Kihara. Unfortunately, I don't know what this person looks like, and I am not even sure if the person's name is a guy or a girl."

Touma asked him, "How do you know that?"

Yuudai explained, "I asked some of the staff people about who is in charge of this facility. Most of them told me they didn't know the person who runs this place personally either, but the name of the person is Kihara. If I can just meet that person face-to-face, I would like to personally thank him or her."

Ai looked at Yuudai with awe and said, "You know in all the years that I have been living here, I have never once thought about doing something like that. I know this person took us in when we had nowhere else to go, but trying to thank this person has never crossed my mind once. Throughout my time here, I have mostly focused on trying to make friends in order to replace the family that abandoned me."

Yuudai reassured her, "That is perfectly understandable. Anyway, I don't think we will have a chance of ever speaking to Kihara personally. I have been trying to for years, and I don't think I have come even close."

Touma said, "Aw don't give up. In fact, we'll help you, and we can all thank Kihara together. We can all . . .," Touma was interrupted when he heard a scream echo throughout the entire Child Error facility.

/

30 seconds earlier Ketsueki and his lackeys were approaching the entrance to the Child Error facility. The security guard stepped in front of them and asked, "Are you here to visit someone? Visiting hours at this facility are almost over."

Ketsueki said with a causal shrug, "Not really." He immediately pulled out his switchblade and cut the man's throat.

One of the Child Error girls happened to witness this and gave a bloodcurdling scream.

Ketto Ketsueki causally said, "Fudo shut that brat up." He then proceeded to lick the blood off his blade.

"Sir!" Fudo activated his Esper power which allowed him to create a fire ball in his hand which he shot directly at the girl causing the flames to consume her in mere seconds.

"HELP ME! HELP ME!" The girl desperately shouted out before she fell to the ground and died. If her first scream wasn't enough to attract the attention of everyone at the Child Error facility, that desperate show certainly was enough. Despite the intensity of the flames, the fire sprinklers did not activate.

Almost everyone in the Child Error facility, including Touma, Ai, and Yuudai, came to the front entrance and witnessed the scene that was unfolding before their eyes. Everyone began to panic and ran as fast as they could. Touma grabbed Ai's hand and said, "Come on let's get out of here!" Touma, Ai, and Yuudai attempted to make their way to the back exit of the Child Error facility as fast as they could.

Ketsueki took a moment to listen to all the scared voices echoing throughout the facility. It was almost as if it was soothing to him. "This is the sound I enjoy to hear. But what I really enjoy from moments like this is creating immediate silence. Alright boys! LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!"

/

On Ketsueki's order Fudo, Kano, Miki, and Ookami spread out to kill as many Child Errors they could. They even made a game out of it. Whoever, could kill the most Child Errors would get the biggest share of the money they would receive from this assignment.

Fudo – Level 3 – Recently upgraded from Level 2: Ability – Fire

His ability to create and manipulate fire made him a deadly foe. However, his recklessness with his powers is what caused him to lose his eye. Generally, if his flames touched his intended victims, they would die almost instantly.

He found a group of Child Errors and said this to them, "Well it looks like I found my first catch of the day! Burn!" The fireball he threw at the Child Errors swallowed them all in an instant. Their screams of pain were music to his ears. He then moved on to his next target.

Kano – Level 3: Ability – Temporarily increase in size

Similar to Fudo, Kano is an extremely hot-blooded individual, but he isn't nearly as reckless. His power allowed his body to increase at least five times the size of a regular sized human, but there were time limits to how long he could use it. After he uses it for the maximum period of time, it takes about two hours for him to be able to use it again. The clothes he wore were especially made, so they could expand along with his body. He personally enjoyed crushing his victims with his hands or stamping them on the ground as if they were insects. However, based on his view of people, he most likely believed anyone who wasn't an Esper or didn't have the ability to fight on his level were nothing but insects.

He grabbed one of the girls, and despite her pleas for mercy, he merely said, "This will be one less pest infecting Academy City." Several of the Child Errors tried to save the girl. They picked up whatever they could find and threw it at the monster that was in front of them. The kids knew it was probably useless, but they just couldn't bring themselves to do nothing. Unfortunately, Kano made mincemeat of all of them until the room was covered in blood. Kano deactivated his powers, so he could save the energy he had until he had more of them cornered.

Miki – Level 3: Ability – Capable of changing his hair into long vine-like tentacles

Unlike most of his other comrades, Miki had a much calmer demeanor even though he also enjoyed killing his victims. His hair was long not only because he let it grow out, but it was also a side effect of his powers. Whenever he activates his powers, his hair would grow to be about twenty-five feet long. He could control his hair to do exactly what he demanded. Even though there were many things he could do, he opted to strangle his victims.

In one particular room, Miki caught seven Child Errors in his vine-like tentacles. He calmly told them, "Remain silent. It will be over quickly." As he promised, he swiftly strangled all seven of them, and dropped them to the ground. His hair then reverted back to its normal length, and he proceeded to the next room.

Ookami – Level 3: Ability – Shape shift into a human-wolf hybrid

Ookami has an interesting mixture of having a wild personality but making attempts to show restraint as well. While he thrives on battle, his reckless nature has caused him to receive a number of scars that he would never forget. The last thing he wants is to lose his eye like Fudo who is unanimously referred to as the dumbest member. While his other senses would allow him to fight without needing his sight, the less he has in common with Fudo the better.

Due to being in a human-wolf hybrid form, he opted not to speak to his victims before killing them. While Ookami has no problem with the idea of killing the Child Errors, he prefers to have prey that is more capable of fighting back. However, killings were probably the most grueling of the other three lackeys. Using his wolf fangs, he tore the appendages of a number of his victims before actually killing them.

In less than a half-hour the entire Child Error facility had become a place filled with blood and corpses. Ketsueki's gang all, especially Ketsueki himself, relished the screams and the voices of despair from their victims or soon-to-be victims almost as if they were getting high off listening to them.

/

Touma, Ai, and Yuudai could only watch in horror as their friends were killed one by one. They wanted to save their friends, but they knew it was impossible to fight such people. Any attempts they could make would only result in their own demise. They did what they could to avoid catching the attention of the Espers while they tried to escape the facility. However, it was becoming abundantly clear that was not going to be possible.

Since the attackers didn't wish to let anyone else know they were about to kill more Child Errors, in order to reap more of the reward for the mission, none of them would notify the others. Unfortunately, that didn't matter at all because Touma, Ai, and Yuudai's escape attempt eventually attracted the unwanted attention of all the attackers. The three of them were running for their lives when they finally came to a split in the hallway.

Yuudai told Touma, "You take Ai that way while I try to distract them and go the other."

Touma said, "You can't do that. You'll die if you try to take them on."

Yuudai calmly told them, "Not with this." Yuudai put down his football, and kicked it with all his might, and it shot at the attackers at a phenomenal rate much to Touma and Ai's shock. The football hit Ookami directly in the face. "I'm not quite a Level-0 anymore. That is what I wanted to tell you guys earlier when you said you wanted to talk about our pasts."

Yuudai had recently discovered that he may no longer be a Level-0 anymore. While playing football one day, he noticed that his kicks were substantially stronger than what he can ever remembered. Not all of the scientists at the Child Error facility were truly cruel people like Theristina, and they were willing to assist Yuudai. He found out that he truly did have the potential to develop a unique Esper ability. The name of the ability was "Power Feet." It allowed the strength of his feet to increase substantially. At the moment, Yuudai was only able to control it whenever he wished to kick something, however, his ability had potential to do more than that.

Unfortunately, despite the pleasant revelation, this was not the time to talk about it. Yuudai told Touma, "I will head out through the kitchen area. You try to head near the janitor's area. Good luck." After that, Yuudai headed off to the kitchen area while Touma and Ai went toward the janitor's area.

In the distance, Ookami was becoming enraged about being on the receiving end of Yuudai's attack. He shouted out loud, "I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL THAT KID!" He ran off to follow Yuudai while Fudo and Kano went off in the direction of Ai and Touma.

Miki noticed that Ketsueki was just standing there flicking his switchblade. "Ketsueki-san what do you plan on doing?"

Ketsueki responded, "I am going to give the brats a few extra minutes to run for their lives. If they think they even remotely have a chance at escaping, it makes killing them all the more fun when they finally realize it was all fruitless."

/

Unfortunately for Ai and Touma they were unable to reach the exit in time, and they knew Fudo and Kano were right behind them. They were trapped. They could not see any plausible escape routes, and there did not seem to be anyone coming to their rescue. The only thing Touma could do was look for some place to hide. Touma looked around and noticed an area where he could remove the floor. It would usually be used to store things, but it looked like it was big enough for Ai.

After Touma opened up the compartment he told Ai, "Get in!"

With concern in her voice, Ai asked, "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me? Get in!"

Tears began to form in her eyes, "No! Yuudai sacrificed himself and now you want to do the same. I can't let you do that!"

"Then I am sorry Ai, but if only one of us can live, it has to be you." Before Ai could react, Touma punched her in the face and knocked her out. He quickly placed Ai in the compartment and closed it just before Fudo and Kano arrived.

Fudo asked Touma, "Hey where is that girl you were with?"

Touma did the best he could to put up a brave face. "I don't know. Maybe she's escaping as we speak while I am standing in this spot distracting you."

With a smug look on his face Fudo said, "Is that so? Well I don't buy it. Maybe I can give you an incentive to 'willingly' give me the information." With that, Fudo charged his power with great intensity. "My power is that of creating fire. I can produce flames right in the palm of my hand. Once I unleash it and it gets to you, you will die almost instantly. You sure you don't want to fess up where she is? I might just feel merciful towards you."

Touma stood his ground and said absolutely nothing. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt Ai, and he was going to do what he could to keep her safe. After waiting a mere ten seconds, Fudo said to Touma, "Time's up." Then he threw the fire ball at Touma with full force.

Kano all of a sudden recognized Touma from the picture in the document. "Wait a minute you idiot, he's the one we're not suppose to kill." However, it was too late. Fudo had already thrown the fireball directly at Touma. It was so huge that it would probably consume the boy in an instant. Touma instinctively tried to protect himself, and he held out his right hand to block the flames despite the fact he didn't think it would do him any good in this situation.

However, it was not Touma's time to die just yet. A miracle happened much to the confusion of both himself and Ketsueki's lackeys. There was a sound of shattered glass, and the fire just dissipated in only a second. It was almost as if it was never there.

Everyone was shocked by what they had just saw, but Fudo is the only one who said anything, "What the . . .? How did you do that?"

Touma was too shocked to even answer. All he could do was look at his right hand. He thought to himself, _"Did my right hand do that? Did I always have this power? Is that why my instincts told me to hold up my right hand?"_

"Not going to answer? That's fine here comes another one." He shot another fireball at Touma, and the result was the same. This time Fudo received a hit on the back of the head from Kano. "What the hell was that for Kano?"

Kano looked at Fudo with distain, "Are you an idiot? Don't you recognize that kid at all?" Fudo's clueless look answered Kano's question. "He's the kid on the document. We aren't supposed to kill him. Otherwise we won't get any of the cash."

Fudo reluctantly said, "Fine. However, we are allowed to hurt him. It doesn't appear that my attacks are going to kill him anyway. I want to understand why my attacks keep disappearing in front of me."

Kano said, "Good point." This time he let Fudo attack Touma again, and the attack was negated after hearing the sound of shattered glass again.

Ketsueki and Miki entered the room shortly after. Miki asked, "What are you doing here?"

Fudo said, "We found the kid from that document, and for some reason his right hand seems to negate everything I throw at him."

This caught Ketsueki's interest. "Really? I would like to see a demonstration. Keep throwing your fire at his right hand."

Fudo timidly said, "Yes sir." He threw several more fireballs directly at Touma and they were all negated one by one.

Ketsueki licked his lips upon seeing this, "Well this is interesting. Let's see if it does anything to someone who tries to hurt him physically. Kano would you do the honors?"

"With pleasure." He then ran up to the Touma and started to beat him down. Kano took great pleasure seeing Touma wince in pain with every punch and kick that he was given. "It doesn't look like his ability won't stop someone from kicking his ass." He then threw Touma to the ground face first and put his knee on Touma's back. He positioned Touma in a way that Touma wouldn't be able to move. He then pulled his arm up. "Well are you going to tell us where your friend is or not?"

Touma firmly said, "No way in hell!"

Kano said with a grin, "Fine then." Kano increase the pressure of his body on top of Touma's body, and Touma winced in pain.

/

While Kano was torturing Touma, Ookami walked into the room as well. For some reason, it appeared he was having some trouble with his nose. Miki asked Ookami, "Did you kill the Child Error who hit you?"

Ookami responded, "It has been taken care of." He then looked upon the scene with Kano hurting Touma, "What is going on here?"

Miki told Ookami, "Kano is 'persuading' that Child Error to reveal the location of another Child Error. I will have to give the Child Error quite a bit of credit for choosing not to sell out his friend. That is more than what I can say for a lot of other people."

"True." Ookami recognized the Touma from the document. "I see he is our employer's chosen one. It sucks to be him."

/

After Kano was done pressing into Touma's back, he decided to ask Touma the question one more time. "Where is your friend?"

Touma struggled to say, "You won't find her?"

Touma's stubbornness to concede to his torturer had finally struck Kano's last nerve. "Fine then. I guess I will just break your left arm then." Kano started bending Touma's arm into an unsightly position which caused Touma excruciating pain. However, a voice cut in that caused Kano to stop his actions.

"Please stop it!" a young girl's voice cried out.

Touma then said, "Ai don't!"

Unfortunately, it was too late. Ai emerged from the storage container. She then said, "I will do anything, just please don't hurt my friend." Strangely enough, Kano let go of Touma's arm, but he didn't get off of him. Her eyes were filled with tears while she said, "It's me that you want right? You can have me. Just please let Touma go."

"What are you doing you idiot? Run away! They are going to kill you!" Touma didn't know what he was saying anymore. Rationally, he knew there was no escape now, but his head just couldn't register that fact. He just wanted Ai to get out of there.

Ketsueki walked up to the girl and asked her, "So you are willing to offer yourself up to spare your friend pain huh?" He then grabbed the girl's face with his hand and squeezed it. "You think your selflessness will make us have a change of heart and let him go right?" Ai gave no response. "Brave girl," Ketsueki let go of her face and began to touch her cheek more gently and said, "but foolish."

Ketsueki then proceeded to slam the girl to the ground. He then told Kano, "Don't break his arms just yet. I don't want him to be in too much pain for his attention to be too distracted. Feel free to keep hurting him though." Kano proceeded to do as he was told. He kept increasing the amount of weight on Touma to keep crushing him but not enough to kill him. Kano also kept slamming Touma's head into the ground, but kept Touma facing what Ketsueki was about to do to his friend.

Ketsueki pulled out his knife and began to slash her clothes off much to Touma and Ai's despair. Touma knew where this was going, but Kano kept him right where he was. Ketsueki then proceeded to rape Ai right in front of Touma. Touma could do nothing but watch in horror while his friend was raped less than ten feet in front of him. All he could do was shout, "PLEASE STOP!" He kept doing so repeatedly to no avail. However, all of them just kept laughing at Touma and Ai's pain and continued.

However, despite Ketsueki treatment, Ai refused to scream. This was something that had never happened. It was almost as if something in Ai prevented her from screaming. She was most likely stopping herself to avoid causing Touma any more pain. Ketsueki decided to take things up a notch. He pulled out his knife and began to stab her. Ketsueki continuously punched and stabbed the poor girl until she was a bloody mess. Touma kept screaming for Ketsueki to stop. He couldn't bear to see his friend like this anymore. However, the moment both Ai's and Touma's eyes met, they were that of a hollow, broken person. She was not only beaten physically but she had reached her limit mentally as well. The look in her eyes would forever be burned in Touma's mind and soul for the rest of his life.

Ketsueki finally saw from the look on their faces that his work was complete. He then proceeded to cut Ai's throat. Ai head fell down to the ground and her body went limp. Touma was stunned by what he just saw. "Ai . . . Ai . . . AAAIIIIII!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

/

Ketsueki then got up with a look of satisfaction on his face. From his perspective, he had done a fine job. "What do we do with you now?"

Miki told Ketsueki, "We can't kill him."

That didn't stop Ketsueki from smiling, "Who said anything about that? We can still do whatever we want with him as long as he still draws a breath." He then told Kano, "You have been patient Kano. You can proceed with breaking the boy's arm's now."

Kano then said, "I will be happy to . . .," before Kano could finish his sentence he was punched by someone who seemed to be a giant. The man before them had a gorilla like appearance, a large body, and wore a black leather jacket. He was Komaba Ritoku a leader of Skill-Out. His forces followed right behind him, and their total number was six. Kano proceeded to get up quickly from that blow and retreated to the main force of the group. Touma was finally free, and he crawled over to Ai's body.

Komaba looked upon the scene in front of him. The boy was holding the body of the girl the leader of those Espers had just murdered. It was absolutely heart wrenching.

Ketsueki asked the Skill-Out members in front of him, "Who are you?"

Komaba answered, "It is customary to introduce yourself before asking someone else their identity. However, we are Skill-Out, and we are your enemies."

Ketsueki gave a smug look upon hearing the Skill-Out's response. "Heh. Is that right? My name is Ketto Ketsueki. I am the leader of this group of Espers before you. Their names are Fudo, Kano, Miki, and Ookami. We were hired to wipe out some trash, but it looks like we are about to do a little overtime. I will be sure to negotiate with my employer to give us a bonus for this."

Among the Skill-Out was Kurozuma Wataru, who was the leader of Skill-Out. He would be described as being tall and muscular with wavy red hair. Wataru was wearing his trademark black leather jacket. He asked no one in particular, "How can you live with yourselves knowing you have committed all these heinous actions?"

"How you ask? I will tell you how." Ketsueki's face made him appear to be in a state of euphoria. "Killing is just too much fun. Hearing the screams of agony of the weak trash that fall before me is such a joy, and I am rewarded with the sweet taste of their blood."

One of the other Skill-Out asked out loud, "Blood?"

"Oh allow me to explain. My Esper power is known as 'Vampire.' Ordinarily, my Esper power allows me to have greater strength and speed than the average person, but by drinking the blood of my victims my power grows by a significant margin. Allow me to demonstrate with that fine girl's blood." With that Ketsueki licked off the blood on his knife. While there didn't appear to be any true physical change in his body, he punched through the nearby concrete wall without any issues. "As you can see you don't stand a chance. With more the victims I kill, the more I can demonstrate these powers, and I am able to maintain this state for much longer periods of time."

Komaba asked Ketsuki bluntly, "Are you sure you should be telling us this? After all, it might come back to bite you."

Ketsueki casually said, "That is no problem for me. I have no issues telling others my abilities when it is extremely clear that victory is assured. As of right now, I am a Level 3 Esper, and the researchers are certain I will become a Level 4 soon enough." Then he said with a causal tone, "The grand total number of people I have slaughtered to reach this high has been 145. Oh wait. What was I thinking? That girl now makes 146. How could I possibly forget that? After all, I remember all of their faces so well when I made their lives flash before their eyes. It shames me to say this, but the number is far below what it should be. As you can see here, I have been forced on more than one occasion to show 'restraint' on a target in order to fulfill the objectives of a mission."

If it wasn't possibly already Komaba and Wataru were even more disgusted with this monster in human form than they were five minutes ago.

"The more powerful I become the more I will seem to be a god to you pathetic beings. You should be bowing down and worshiping me."

Komaba said, "There is no chance of that happening."

"Very well. That is your choice. You will die by my hand." Ketsueki then thought of something. "You know what. Simply fighting right here in a free-for-all would be no fun at all. Let's fight one-one-one while my 'friends' fight your own. This will certainly make my evening more entertaining."

"That's fine." With that Komaba and Ketsueki left the area.

Fudo turned to his fellow group members and started to say, "Who do you think we should . . .?" However, before he could even finish his sentence his face had a date with Wataru's boot. Wataru then proceeded to punch Miki right in the face.

After witnessing Wataru's combat abilities, Ookami tried to attack Wataru, but he was stopped. He heard one of the Skill-Out say, "Back off." He had his gun aimed at Ookami. Ookami managed to dodge a fatal shot, but he was injured by the Skill-Out's attack. The injury caused Ookami to forget all about Wataru and concentrate on attacking the Skill-Out that fired on him. The Skill-Out along with another one of his comrades lured Ookami from the area while Wataru managed to get Fudo and Miki to follow him.

Kano then noticed that he was alone with the three remaining Skill-Out members. "Well it looks like it is only the four of us left." The Skill-Out members proceeded to run out of the area due to how small it was. If Kano used his powers here, they would be easy prey for him. "Hey! Don't run away from me! Let's make this fun!"

Touma was left all alone in the room holding Ai's body asking for her to wake up.

/

Komaba's fight with Ketsueki was off to a rough start. He was continuously dodging a combination of Ketsueki's switchblade and his powerful punches. However, Ketsueki was somewhat impressed by Komaba's ability to fight. While he was fighting a Level-0, it certainly had been a long time since he fought such an interesting and worthwhile prey. Ketsueki decided that he wanted it to last for as long as it could.

Ketsueki decided to divulge some new information to Komaba, "You want to know something else. That girl is not the first one I have been with. I believe she has increased the number to ten, and she wasn't the youngest either." Komaba was becoming more and more disgusted with every word this monster had to say, but he decided if it gave him time to think of something he might as well let Ketsueki speak. "There was this girl who looked like she was about ten years old with short brown hair as well, but apparently she was made only a few days earlier. She may not have known how to say a word before, but she didn't need to be taught how to scream."

This caused Komaba to flinch upon hearing that. "Apparently, the scientists were pretty pissed by this. They weren't so much at first because they considered the experiment a failure, but now that they have decided to do some revamping they are pissed that they have to go through the trouble to make another one of those specifically."

Komaba wasn't sure of what he had just heard. However, he was certain that if it was what he thought Ketsueki was implying, there would definitely be problems down the road. However, he still felt the need to ask, "What are you talking about?"

Ketsueki decided not to give away any more information, "Sorry but no more information for you. It's time for you to die." Komaba saw Ketsueki reached into a pouch and pulled out a bottle of blood. After drinking it, his attempts on Komaba's life continued with Komaba doing everything he could to avoid Ketsueki's strikes.

/

Wataru's opponents were Fudo and Miki. It was quite an odd pair. Fudo was the least intelligent and most impatient of Ketsueki's subordinates while the opposite held true for Miki. Any 'teamwork' they even remotely tried to perform left much to be desired since their group was anything but cohesive. In fact, they kept getting in each other's way which gave Wataru the advantage.

Miki constantly attempted to capture Wataru with his tentacles, but Wataru was able to dodge them. However, dodging them was even easier with Fudo recklessly using his powers to kill Wataru. Instead of hitting Wataru, he actually hit some of Miki's tentacles instead. Miki constantly had to keep cutting parts of his own hair off and regenerated them, so he wouldn't have to worry about Fudo's powers from killing him as well. Miki told Fudo, "Watch where you are aiming you idiot! You're going to kill me at this rate instead of him."

Fudo became distracted and angrily said, "Who are you calling an idiot you stupid stoic?"

However, before the argument could continue, Fudo received another kick in the face by Wataru and was knocked unconscious. "It's you dumbass." He then turned to face Ookami, "Well it's just you and me now."

Miki actually smiled partly and said, "I prefer it that way."

/

Ookami had assumed his wolf hybrid form and battled two Skill-Outs whose identities were Yuu and Shoo. Similar to a number of Skill-Outs, Yuu and Shoo had adequate skills with guns. If it weren't for that, it is likely they would be dead by now. They managed to land a total of three shots at Ookami, but none of them were fatal, and none of them seemed to slow him down. In fact, Ookami seemed more and more enraged by the increase of his injuries, and he also seemed to be thriving off this experience as well.

With his transformation, his speed and strength far exceeded Yuu or Shoo. It took everything they had to avoid Ookami's claws and jaws. Yuu and Shoo knew that they needed to shoot the beast right in the heart if they were to win this fight. However, they needed to keep it distracted long enough for them to be able to give him the final blow. Luckily, they did have a plan. They weren't stupid enough to knowingly face their foe without having some knowledge of his potential weakness. Unfortunately, they only had one maybe two chances, and they couldn't afford to waste them.

Their opportunity came soon enough when Ookami managed to grab a hold of Yuu. It looked like Ookami was about to chew Yuu's face off, but Yuu still had one surprise literally up his sleeve. It was a bag full of ammonia that Yuu had explode right in Ookami's face. While ammonia is a colorless gas, it has a putrid smell that would be hard to handle for a regular human, but the smell of it was far worse for someone who has the intense sense of smell like a wolf.

As stated in their Intel, Ookami's nose is extremely sharp and sensitive. However, while it was likely a real wolf might be able to recover from such a stench much faster, Ookami was still human. There is a high probability that if his nose became overwhelmed by a potent stench then, victory was possible. This would be the second time in an hour someone was able to use such a weakness to his advantage.

Yuu and Shoo shot Ookami several times in the chest. Ookami eventually fell down to the ground, and he reverted back to his human form. He was dead and the first of Ketsueki's lackeys to fall.

/

Wataru continued his fight with Miki. Miki proved to be a relatively difficult opponent in his own right. Without Fudo stupidly destroying the tentacles, Wataru was having a much harder time dealing with this foe. One of Miki's tentacles managed to grab a hold of Wataru, but Wataru managed to cut it off with one of his knives before anymore could grab him. If he didn't land a blow on his soon, it would be major trouble for him.

During the fight, Wataru noticed a small piece of rubble on the ground that seemed possible to throw. While dodging Miki's tentacles, he managed to discreetly grab the piece of rubble. He waited for his opening, and he seized his opportunity. He threw the piece of rubble directly at Miki, who was too focused on trying to capture Wataru, he didn't notice what Wataru threw at him until it was too late.

The piece of rubble hit Miki right in the face which caused him to lose focus for a few seconds. However, a few seconds was all Wataru needed. He managed to kick Miki right in the stomach and punched him in the face. Miki wasn't use to fighting hand-to-hand since he always relied on his powers. He didn't stand a chance against Wataru's assault.

Unknown to either of them, Wataru or Miki, Fudo finally regained conscious. He noticed the fight between Wataru and Miki and decided to charge a powerful shot of his own. Without warning he fired it at Wataru's direction. After Wataru managed to stun Miki with his punch, Wataru noticed Fudo's fireball coming right at him, and he jumped out of the way. Miki unfortunately was unable to notice in time. He was consumed by Fudo's flames as he screamed in agony.

Fudo seemed completely undeterred despite inadvertently killing his own teammate. The only thoughts in his mind were seeing Wataru burn to a crisp. He kept throwing his fireballs at Wataru recklessly. Wataru decided it would be for the best to retreat for now and come up with a better plan. Using a normal plan on a psychotic idiot like Fudo might not be enough. Fudo predictably followed Wataru as if he was trying to win a medal.

/

Despite Ketsueki's increased speed and strength, even Ketsueki had to admit that Komaba was a difficult opponent to defeat. Ketsueki was successful in punching Komaba on two different occasions, Komaba was able to recover quick enough to stop Ketsueki from performing any finishing slashes. At one point, Komaba was able to knock the knife out of Ketsueki's hand and briefly pin Ketsueki to the wall with his right hand. Ketsueki struggled for a few seconds to escape Komaba's grasp before Komaba could suffocate him. He was so desperate that Ketsueki wasn't paying attention to anything else other than breaking free.

After managing to break out of Komaba's grasp, Ketsueki said, "I suppose that big body of yours isn't just for show."

Komaba most likely believed that Ketsueki was trying to get him to drop his guard with that compliment. Instead of acknowledging the compliment, he told Ketsueki, "If I am ever to stand a chance against Espers like you, training my body and coming up with plans is an absolute necessity. Otherwise, I would be pointlessly charging into my death. I have a good head on my shoulders, and I would like to keep it there."

Ketsueki smirked at that, "If that is what you really think then maybe you shouldn't keep challenging Espers you low class scum. I have been holding one trick back, and I am going to tear you to pieces with it."

After saying that, Ketsueki's movements seemed to accelerate. Komaba was barely able to comprehend what was going on, but he listened to his instincts. He dodged to his right with less than a second to spare. Ketsueki passed right by him, and he punched a hole right through the wall. Despite avoiding Ketsueki's blow, Komaba felt a strange shockwave of sorts affect him. It appeared that even dodging an outright attack was not enough to completely avoid receiving some sort of damage.

Ketsueki turned around and faced Komaba with an ecstatic look on his face. "That was a good thing you were able to dodge my attack. Otherwise, your heart would be in the palm of my hand. It wouldn't be the first time I have given my victims such a fine treatment, and I am going to make sure it won't be the last."

/

During Kano's fight he just kept blabbing, "You Skill-Out are just pests that need to be exterminated from Academy City like those Child Errors we just killed. Their lives are just as meaningless and pathetic as yours."

None of his Skill-Out opponents gave Kano the satisfaction of a reply. This increased Kano's rage, especially since he was having trouble hurting a single one of them. "You keep scrambling around like insects. However, I doubt you will be able to stay alive for seven days like cockroaches after I crush your heads."

After a few more minutes of attacking the Skill-Outs with no luck, Kano began to notice something. _"Why aren't they fighting back?"_ Kano thought to himself. _"They haven't done a single thing other than dodge my attacks."_ Then it finally dawned on him. _"Could they be waiting out for my time limit to expire?"_ The very notion of such a seemingly futile attempt seemed laughable to him.

"Do you honestly think that you will be able to avoid me until the time is up? Think again. Plenty of people have tried in the past, and they have all failed miserably."

The Skill-Out known as Yami asked Kano a question, "This fight has been going on for over fifteen minutes. How long do you think you still have?"

Kano just gave an evil grin, "About fifteen minutes left of course."

The Skill-Out said, "Wrong answer."

Kano was confused, "What do you mean?"

The Skill-Out said, "We know that you use your powers to kill your victims, and based on the remains of some of those kids, there is no doubt you murdered a number of them using your powers, and not too much time has passed overall, so I doubt your time limit has restarted yet. So tell me, how long have you really used your powers you sadistic dumbass?"

After adding in all of those factors, Kano realized that he had less than one minute left before he would revert to normal. This caused him to become enraged, he began recklessly destroying the area almost as if he was trying to create a possible escape route for himself. He knew that he probably wouldn't be able to kill them in less than a minute, so he opted to create a distance between them. Kano's time limit had finally expired, and he began to run.

Unfortunately for Kano, the Skill-Out were able to avoid his rampage, and his escape was completely cutoff. He saw that the Skill-Out were finally going to make their move as they all reached for their guns. "Oh shit," were Kano's final words before the sound of bullets echoed throughout the air.

/

As soon as Wataru entered the kitchen area, he noticed that something didn't quite smell right. It took him a few seconds to figure out the entire room was filled with gas. Apparently, something in this room was leaking gas for a while now, and it really built up. If someone or something as small as a match lit even a tiny flame, this room would become a smoking crater.

Fudo entered the room, and said "Well it looks like I finally caught up with you. It's time for you to die."

Wataru knew the moment that idiot activates his powers, it will cause the whole place to blow up. "Wait don't!"

Before Wataru could explain the situation, Fudo just laughed it off. "You expect me to stop! You have got to be kidding. I am going to make you burn." Fudo began to activate his powers without noticing the smell in the air of the room.

Wataru noticed an exit less than ten feet away. Without thinking he said, "Damn it!," and he bolted to the door as fast as he could. As Wataru predicted, Fudo's powers caused the entire room to explode. Wataru managed to escape the explosion with only his jacket receiving minor damage.

Fudo's powers might have allowed him to create flames, but that did not mean he was immune to his own powers. The moment he activated his powers, he sealed his fate. In the aftermath, he was nothing but a smoking carcass.

"You were consumed by your own flames. What a dumbass." After Wataru helped himself up, he was left wondering how everyone else's fights were going. He had a feeling that his subordinates could handle Kano and Ookami, but Ketsueki was another matter. "I wonder how things are going on Komaba's end."

/

Komaba managed to barely avoid Ketsueki's acceleration attack, but the shockwave did cause Komaba to be affected. However, Komaba was able to overcome the feeling, and land another punch at Ketsueki's face. If it weren't for a combination Komaba's large size and strength, the shockwave would have been enough to push him back a distance. It was rather fortunate that Komaba was the one fighting Ketsueki in this particular situation. The only other Skill-Out who could possibly stand a chance against Ketsueki would probably be Wataru. Komaba didn't think either Hamazura or Hattori would be up to the task although their age and lack of experience pretty much made that a given.

After rubbing his cheek, Ketsueki decided to speak up, "You know there is one thing I don't get."

"What's that?"

"You Skill-Out are supposed to have skills using guns correct? Why haven't you used your gun on me at all during this fight."

Komaba looked at Ketsueki with a calm face, and told him, "I can't afford to kill you just yet. After I defeat you, I need you to spill your guts and answer some questions."

Ketsueki became visibly agitated by that. "Don't you mock me! You're going to die here today, and I will put my hand right where your heart is supposed to be!" He pulled another bottle of blood from his pouch and drank it. "With this I will make sure you . . ." Before Ketsueki could finish his sentence he collapsed on the ground.

Ketsueki tried to get up, but he barely had the strength to crawl. "What the hell is this? What is going on here? How can this be possible? There is no way this can be happening to me! I am Ketsueki. I am suppose to become a supreme Esper!" Ketsueki looked over at Komaba's direction and saw Komaba's expression. "You did this. But how?"

"Did you honestly think I was coming to fight you without being prepared? I already knew full well what your powers were, the fact you had a spare pouch of blood bottles, and what your weakness is. It's true that when you drink someone else's blood, you become stronger, but there is one exception. If that blood belonged to a person who is terminally ill, it will cause you to become severally weakened. Temporarily of course, but it will be long enough for me to take you down."

"How did you get me to drink that?" Ketsueki said in disbelief.

"I seized my opportunity when I grabbed you and held you against the wall. You were too busy trying to pry yourself loose that you did not notice I put a few blood samples of terminally ill people into your blood pouch. I know you can't simply drink your own blood to power yourself up, so you need others. You have to rely on obtaining someone else's blood either through those bottles or cutting your opponent. Of course, getting these blood samples was rather difficult since terminally ill people are somewhat hard to come by these days thanks to a certain hospital's doctor. We had to obtain the blood samples of the patients before they received that care. It wasn't easy preserving it."

Ketsueki didn't say anything in response and just kept glaring at the Skill-Out. Komaba continued his explanation, "When we first starting fighting, you used that girl's blood to power yourself up, so I still didn't know where your pouch was. I was just hoping I could last long enough until you finally needed to drink one of your spares. Of course, avoiding that switchblade of yours was no easy task. If you would have gotten even a little bit of blood, my plan would have been ruined."

"So you started fighting me knowing that you would have to last through at least two of my blood enhanced power-ups?"

Komaba said, "That is correct. I was hoping to last long enough for you to drink one of the bottles I provided for you. It was either my luck or your misfortune that you drank one of the bottles so quickly."

Ketsueki continued giving Komaba a look of disgust. "You bastard. You fight dirty."

This time it was Komaba's turn to be disgusted. "And you don't? Taking other people's blood to make yourself stronger and getting such thrills out of seeing people die even if they begged you to spare them. You don't call your way of doing things dirty?"

Ketsueki attempted to justify his actions. "Of course not! Whenever someone goes up against me, they know what to expect because I give them the courtesy of a 'sporting chance' before they die."

Komaba countered Ketsueki's argument with, "Well you went up against a Skill-Out who will do what he can to win. You should have expected that. Not to mention, it is pretty stupid of you to explain your powers to your enemies in the first place."

Ketsueki started to become visibly shaken when he asked, "What are you going to do to me?"

Komaba responded, "Since I don't think you are going to talk, I guess I will make this go through you." After saying that, Komaba broke off a piece of metal that was damaged during the fight from the wall and started walking towards Ketsueki.

For the first time in a long time, Ketsueki finally had a taste of what fear was like on the other end. "Wait a minute. You said you wanted me to talk right? I will tell you anything you want. Just don't kill me."

"Start talking."

"I was hired by someone at a research facility only three miles from here. The address is right here in this document." Ketsueki pulled out a document and dropped on the ground by Komaba's feet.

"Did they tell you to kill all these kids for sport?"

"Not all of them. The woman who hired us told us to spare that boy back there. We could hurt him if we wanted, but just not kill him. Everyone else was fair game."

"What was your employer's name?"

"I don't know. She went by an alias. It was Kagakusha. She was also wearing a disguise as well. It may have been good enough to fool anyone else, but with the way I observe woman, I could tell she was wearing a wig."

"Why did she tell you to spare the boy?"

"I don't know. However, knowing that person, she was probably planning on using him in some sort of experiment. Kagakusha referred to the boy as 'Imagine Breaker' probably because he negated Fudo's flame attacks with his right hand."

Ketsueki's last piece of Intel caught Komaba's interest. "That boy was able to negate an Esper ability? Are you sure?"

Ketsueki wasn't completely sure how to answer the question. That boy's ability was beyond even his understanding, but he desperately wanted to give the Skill-Out something, so he would leave. "Yeah he did. I saw it happen. That's all I know. I am pretty sure the Anti-Skill will get here soon if you don't start leaving now so go."

Despite Ketsueki willingly giving Komaba the information, Komaba still approached Ketsueki with the stick. "Wait a minute! You're still going to kill me!"

Komaba told him, "Of course I am."

Ketsueki's desperation for self-preservation skyrocketed. "Why?! I told you everything so you wouldn't kill me?"

"When did I agree to that arrangement? Someone like you is better off dead. If I let you go, I doubt the Anti-Skill will be able to hold you, and you will just keep adding more victims to your resume."

Ketsueki became hysterical, "Wait I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Please don't kill me! Not like this!"

"That's an interesting choice of words right there. This is coming from someone who killed nearly all of the victims in cold blood when they begged you for mercy. Do you feel helpless now?" Ketsueki didn't respond, but his facial expression said it all. "Well now you know how every single one of your victims felt before they died. That little girl will be your last." After saying that, Komaba impaled Ketsueki right through his heart. Before Ketsueki could die, Komaba said one last thing to him, "You thought of yourself as a 'god' huh? You weren't even close." Ketsueki died within seconds with a less than graceful look on his face.

Before dying, Ketsueki's last thoughts were about a scientist with a tattoo on his face who promised to make him capable of gaining powers that would allow him to be above almost any Esper in existence. _"You lying bastard,"_ were the last thoughts in Ketsueki's mind before it closed forever.

/

After Komaba finished off Ketsueki, he reunited with Wataru at the room where they left Touma. When he arrived, he saw that Touma was still cradling Ai's dead body in his arms with tears pouring from his eyes. Komaba spoke to Wataru, "I believe it would be in his best interest if we took him with us."

Wataru looked at Komaba in surprise, "He is just a kid Komaba. I know it isn't too unusual for kids to join Skill-Out, but this could be taking too much advantage of the situation. The poor kid just saw his friend get raped and murdered right in front of him. If that didn't happen, I wouldn't have a problem with what you are proposing."

Komaba stated, "I would agree with that, but the circumstances of this are significantly different from what we thought."

This caught Wataru's attention right away. "What do you mean?"

Komaba explained, "Before I killed that bastard Ketsueki, he told me they were specifically ordered not to kill that kid for some reason, but everyone else was fair game to them. We already knew some of those damn scientists were in on this, but it appears they wanted to gain some sort of specific result from this kid in particular. If we let him go with the Anti-Skill, there is a strong chance those researchers will do something like this again. However, I doubt they anticipated us getting involved in this situation. If we get the kid out of here, he will have a chance to make his own decision and not be their lab rat."

Wataru signed, "When you put it like that, it is hard to disagree."

"I am going to see if I can get him to come along with us willingly. We would be hypocrites if we took him by force after all." Wataru made no comment and simply nodded.

Komaba approached the boy who was still cradling the body of his dead friend in his arms. Komaba realized that this was going to be harder than he thought. His face was full of pity for the boy that sat in front of him, and he did not know how he could possibly break the ice in this situation. Instead of saying anything, Komaba decided to offer the boy his hand. However, the boy could do nothing but stare at Komaba's hand almost as if he had lost all sense of what the world was after this horrific event. Seeing how this was going nowhere, the giant decided to pat the kid on the head in hopes it would cause the boy to return to reality.

After it became clear to the boy that the giant was not going to harm him, the giant told him, "Come on, kid," as he tried to have the boy let go of the girl's body. However, the boy clutched Ai's body closer to his almost as if holding her would be enough to bring her back.

With tears coming down the boy's face he kept insisting, "She's not dead. She's not! Please, save her!"

Through his tears he could see the giant's expression was twisting into a mixture of grief and anger. The boy knew the anger was not directed at him, but it didn't stop him from being scared. The giant bluntly told the boy, "You have to let her go. She's dead."

Simply saying that was enough to trigger the boy's repressed anger, "NO! SHE'S NOT! YOU'RE LYING!" He finally let her go and when right for the giant's neck, but due to the boy being too small and powerless, he opted to simply pound on the giant's chest as he continually denied the reality that was around him. However, after a few moments of his pointless punching, what had happened finally began to sink in. Ai was dead. Even though he did not know what happened to Yuudai, it was likely Yuudai met the same fate. After it became abundantly clear what happened was irreversible, the first thought that came into his mind was, "_It's all my fault, and now I know why."_ They boy looked at his right arm._ "It's my right arm. All this time it could negate the supernatural, and I didn't even know it. It must have even cancelled out the blessings of God himself. That is why this happened. No matter where I go or what I do. I cannot escape this curse."_

With his spirit broken, tears continued to poor down his face, and he said, "It's all my fault," the boy sank to his knees almost losing sight of the world around him, "It's all my fault. I always bring misfortune to everyone. Everyone dies because of me!"

After hearing these words, the giant responded by hitting the boy's head lightly. "Tch. Kid, you are too young to be talking about such things." The giant rose to his feet and towered over the boy almost as if he was a god. He looked upon the boy with a grim expression and offered the boy a chance, "Why don't you follow me and Wataru, kid? You say you bring misfortune? Then bear that misfortune upon your soul. Use it. Bear the misfortunes of the world so that other people can be fortunate. Protect them like the girl protected you."

Upon hearing this, it seemed as if the words were enough to revitalize the boy and he looked up, desperately wanting to believe what the giant just said. "Can I really… protect someone?" he whispered, paralyzed in the hope that he would be able to affirm a purpose for his life and existence.

The giant knelt down before the boy once more with a stiff smile on his face and said, "If even a bastard like me can do it. So can you."

Even though the boy did not understand why the giant who was his savior would refer to himself in such a manner, the boy simply nodded furtively and wiped his tears away in attempt to make himself look brave to the unknown future ahead of him.

With that the giant could not help but grin and said, "Heh. That's good kid. The name is Komaba Ritoku. Yours?"

"It's Touma."

"Well Touma. Let's get out of here."

"Before we do that, there is one thing I need to do first."

"What's that?"

"I need to get something from my room first. It should only take a second."

"That's fine, but you need to make it quick."

Touma ran off to his room, so he could collect his belongings, which included several photographs, his ID, and most importantly his journal. While he was collecting his belongings, Touma noticed that it was snowing outside. It made him think of the conversation he had with Ai earlier that day. Mere hours ago, he was talking to his friend who had been a part of his life for almost two years about the possibilities of the future, and less than thirty minutes ago she was taken from this world forever.

Touma resolved that he would never let himself forget her or the other Child Errors. To do so, would be an unforgivable insult to their memories. Before he left he took one good look out the window and said, "I'm sorry Ai." With that, Touma said farewell to the Child Error Institute, the life he lived there, and most importantly his friends Ai and Yuudai.

/

**Omake**

Instead of seeing Mikoto and Touma in their normal positions, they are replaced with Wataru and Komaba.

Wataru: Due to the events of this chapter, we decided to take both Touma and Mikoto's place in this segment. Since this isn't exactly a chapter we would really try to be funny, we decided we would try to lighten the mood with some trivia instead.

Komaba: For fans of the series, you obviously know which characters appear in the normal canon and which characters are original to this fan fiction. Since characters, such as myself or Wataru, have established names, the author obviously did not have to concern himself with coming up with strange names.

Wataru: However, the author made a special effort to give meaningful names to the characters he made up, such as Sasaki Ai. As mentioned in the story, her personal name means "love." For Touma's other friend Yamasaki Yuudai, his given name means, "One who is a great hero."

Komaba: Even the one shot characters that appear in this chapter received special consideration for their names as well, such as Ketsueki. According to a few websites the author looked up for Japanese names and words, Ketsueki was one of several names that means "blood." As for his henchmen, Fudo means "Fire Spirit God," Kano means "one's masculine power or capability," Miki means "tree," and Ookami means "wolf."

Wataru: Were those their real names?

Komaba: Not at all. With the exception of Ketsueki, they all changed their names because they didn't want to be associated with people they considered to be underneath them. Ketsueki would have changed his name as well if he didn't already like the sound of it. He tried to, but he really couldn't think of anything better.

Wataru: Okay then. There were also a number of alternative names the author originally considered for both Ai and Yuudai prior to settling on the names he established in this story. The names the author also considered for Sasaki Ai were: Kiyomizu Yami, Kaneko Mizuki, and Mori Saki. On the other hand these were the names the author considered for Yamasaki Yuudai: Hashimoto Yuu and Ogawa Shoo.

Komaba: Didn't the author use those names for some of the other Skill-Out that appeared in this chapter?

Wataru: That appears to be the case.

Komaba: I wonder why he didn't choose any of the alternatives for Ai or Yuudai.

Wataru: Apparently, none of the other names gave him the same feeling that the ones he ultimately chose.

Komaba: I wonder if Kamachi-sensei had a lot of difficulty deciding our names too.

Wataru: I don't think we will ever be able to find that out.

Komaba: I suppose so. On another note, we shouldn't have to wait too long until the next chapter comes out. Of course, that is barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Wataru: Yeah a large part of the following chapter has been written or planned out, and the fifth chapter probably won't take too long either. Both of us will be getting quite a bit of screen time as well. (Turns to the audience) Until then see you later.

/

**Disclaimer**: Needless to say, I am not the owner of "Toaru Majutsu no Index" or "A Certain Scientific Railgun." Those are the properties of Kamachi Kazuma, J.C. Staff, Seven Seas Entertainment, and Funimation.

**Author Notes**: This was definitely the hardest chapter I have had to write so far. I knew that Ai had to die, but I had a hard time killing her off. I grew to like the character a lot while I was developing her for the side story. Unfortunately, it needed to be done otherwise, I would be facing a major continuity error. However, I hope I was able to do the Child Error facility attack and her death scene justice.

Did the characters Ketsueki and his lackey's completely disgust you? If they did, then I have succeeded in what I was attempting to do. While it was easy to portray Therestina as a "complete monster" since she already is one in canon, I found it difficult at first to try to do that with an original character that only made a brief appearance in the main story created by Stormwolfex-san. Making characters who qualify as "complete monsters" without it being too unrealistic was more difficult than I thought, but I think I was satisfied with what I did. I was also satisfied with their fight and death scenes. Hopefully, you got the same satisfaction I had because that was my first time actually depicting a fighting/death scene before.

When it came to Ketsueki's death scene, I had a number of different ideas. I did consider having Komaba beheading Ketsueki, but it didn't strike me as much. After I thought it over, I decided to have Komaba impale Ketsueki through the heart since Ketsueki is more like a vampire. By having Ketsueki impaled through the heart, I thought it seemed like a more befitting/karmic death. However, I had trouble deciding how it should happen. I had considered having something fall on top of Ketsueki due to his somewhat reckless nature or him being disabled by a Capacity Down, however, I wanted to give Komaba the satisfaction of killing Ketsueki by himself. I thought back to Komaba's fight with Accelerator, and Komaba seemed like someone who was good at being able to exploit his opponent's weaknesses. Since Ketsueki's power relied on blood, I figured that blood from a terminally ill person could help cause his demise. After all, doctors have to be careful with the blood they provide for blood transfusions (obviously the results wouldn't be quite the same).


	4. Story I: Birth of the Devil Part IV

**Author Notes**: It pleases me that you all have enjoyed my side story so far. I have done my best to maintain continuity with Stormwolfex's original story. I greatly appreciate your reviews, and I hope you will continue to show me your support in future chapters and side stories.

In case you didn't know, I have decided to place a poll on my profile. I want to know whose death scene you enjoyed the most for Ketsueki's gang. Personally, I enjoyed writing Fudo's death scene the most, but I also want to know what you guys think. I will be placing more polls on my profile page in the near future as well.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Story One: Birth of the Devil – Part IV

Aftermath and Decisions

/

Everyone is gone

How do I continue now?

Who should pay for this?

/

Story Focus – Anti-Skills, Scientists, and Skill-Out

Location – Various points throughout Academy City

Less than thirty minutes after Touma left with Wataru and Komaba, the Anti-Skill had finally arrived. Among them was Yomikawa Aiho, and she was horrified at the sight that was before her. What she and the other Anti-Skill were seeing was not a simple attack on public property that they heard over the radio. It was a bloodbath massacre. There were so many bodies lying throughout the facility. With her eyes wide open in shock, she slowly said, "Oh my God." She then turned to her fellow Anti-Skill member Saigou Ryouta, and asked him, "Why weren't we told that such a massive atrocity was happening sooner?"

While her anger and fear regarding this horrific experience was justified, she also recognized this place. She remembered this was the same facility that dropped those kids off about a year and a half ago. They made a lasting impression on her. Especially the boy Touma when he said he might want to become an Anti-Skill.

Saigou told Yomikawa, "We only received the call a little while ago, and we were told it was only a group of punks vandalizing city property."

This only made Yomikawa angrier. "This goes far beyond simple vandalism. This was outright mass murder." She made her hand into a fist. She knew Saigou wasn't to blame, but she knew something was wrong about this scenario. She angrily asked Saigou, "How could someone not have witnessed this? Why didn't the facility's emergency alarms go off to alert us about this attack?"

Before she could continue, a calm male voice behind her said, "I think I might have the answer to that Yomikawa-san." Yomikawa turned around to see another fellow Anti-Skill, Kouji Masakage, standing there. "I just checked out a few things in their security room, and I think you need to see this."

After Yomikawa, Saigou and Kouji entered the room, Yomikawa gasped at what she saw. The entire security system was sabotaged. All the controls, the alarm systems, and even the security cameras were completely disabled. Even though what happened here was obvious, Kouji stated, "I think this explains almost everything about this incident. Whoever did this wanted to make sure those kids would not receive any warning of their killers, and they would not receive any help from us. From what I can tell, even the fire alarm and the sprinklers were deactivated. This was definitely an inside job."

Yomikawa's eyes widened upon hearing these revelations, "So that means someone went out of their way to sentence these kids to death."

Saigou put his hand to his chin, "This would help explain the massive number of burned areas and bodies throughout the building. That was definitely the work of an Esper with fire abilities. The insider probably didn't want to take any chances. After all, the sprinklers could have interfered with that Esper or the Esper's abilities could have set off the alarm which would have alerted us."

Yomikawa was still having trouble wrapping her head around this whole scenario. It just seemed too crazy to be real, but everything that was before her eyes were telling her otherwise. "But who would do something so horrific as to condemn so many innocent children to their deaths? Who could be so heartless?"

Kouji responded by telling Yomikawa, "I am not sure, but it appears we have our work cut out for us. I am not a forensic analysis expert, but so far it appears that the person made sure there were no direct links to him or her. Whoever did this seems to be very thorough."

Yomikawa remained silent for a moment before speaking again. "That can wait for now. At this moment, I want to focus on getting these children identified and making proper funeral arrangements."

Saigou understood Yomikawa's intentions were good, but he wasn't aware if they were necessary in this case, "I don't want to seem insensitive to this whole situation, but shouldn't those children's parents do that?"

Yomikawa responded to her ignorant co-worker, "You obviously don't know this, but this is a Child Error facility, so that means almost if not all these children are orphans. In most cases, these children were abandoned by their parents or their parents died and there was no guardian."

After hearing that, Saigou came to a grim understanding, "I see." She thought about what she said and asked her, "This is not your first time here is it?"

Yomikawa's face was serious, but not the business/duty driven face she would usually have. It was understandably sad. "No. I dropped off three kids here once. They were really good kids too. All three of them were innocent, and I could tell they had fire in their eyes. I know they would have grown up to become people of great value. Now they have been robbed of their futures forever. I can't give them back their futures, but I can give these children a proper funeral. They deserve at least that much."

Saigou said nothing after that. He nodded in a respectful agreement to what Yomikawa wished to do. Saigou decided that he would assist her with that task as well.

After a few minutes of exploring the destroyed facility, Yomikawa came across Sasaki Ai's body. It took almost everything Yomikawa had to not cry. She could not comprehend how such a sweet and lovely girl could be the victim of such brutalization. A future that could have been promising was lost forever. She could only hope the girl's friends did not suffer a similar fate. After a few hours of rounding up the bodies and placing them in body bags, they were able to identify all the Child Errors who were killed. They also discovered the bodies of Ketseuki and his men, but the Anti-Skills weren't able to identify their bodies right away. However, they were able to determine these people did not live in this facility. Unfortunately, that would make identifying their bodies more difficult.

According to the information the Anti-Skill managed to salvage from the remaining records of the facility, about eighty percent of the children were killed. Upon hearing this news, Yomikawa was happy to know that at least some of the children may still be alive, and they could still be saved. When she compared the list of the victims to the list of the residents, she noticed that the name Yamasaki Yuudai was noticeable absent from the list of the deceased. She recognized him as being one of that unfortunate girl's friends. If he was still alive, Yomikawa did not know what she could possibly say to him other than giving her condolences. She knew that nothing could be said to fix something like this. All she could do was hope that she would be able to find him someday and help him.

While going over the lists, she noticed that the name Kamijou Touma was noticeably absent from both lists. According to what was left of the records, Kamijou Touma was transferred about six months prior to this attack. The document stated that he volunteered for a unique experiment, and the location was classified. Yomikawa's gut told her something was off, but she knew that she had no grounds to base that off of. It is far from unusual for students in Academy City to volunteer for experiments or special training, and the locations of these said activities are only known to a select few individuals to reduce the possibilities of sabotage. Under these circumstances, there was no need to investigate this. Yomikawa figured that news of this attack would most likely reach him soon enough.

Unbeknownst to Yomikawa, her gut was right to be suspicious. Gensei Kihara was able to monitor the whole situation during the Child Error attack, and he found out the boy had been taken in by Skill-Out. He was able to remotely modify the records that were remaining at the Child Error facility. The original plan was for the Anti-Skill to find Touma in the Child Error facility, but since that was no longer possible, certain measures needed to be taken. After all, it seems like this alternative scenario might work to his benefit, and he would rather not have any unnecessary variables interfere.

Gensei Kihara made it appear that Touma volunteered for an experiment, so his absence would not be viewed as suspicious to the Anti-Skill. Preferably, he would have wanted to eliminate any record of Touma's presence in the Child Error facility, but he was aware of Touma's previous interaction with the Anti-Skill. If they would have seen there was no record of him whatsoever, there is no doubt the Anti-Skill would immediately become suspicious. Gensei Kihara already knew there would be investigation for the attack on the Child Error facility, but he was already prepared for that. However, having Touma absence catch too much of the Anti-Skills' attention could lead to uncomfortable questions and investigations that even he would have trouble with. Even if they were to eliminate the one investigating, that could potentially cause problems of its own if it was done in a sloppy fashion.

/

Over the course of the next few weeks, the Child Error facility was thoroughly investigated. They were able to identify the bodies of Ketsueki and his lackey's, and they were able to find out information on their abilities. It was easy to determine they were the ones responsible for this massacre, and the Anti-Skill properly disposed of their bodies. However, there was no solid evidence left behind regarding who killed them.

The Skill-Out made sure not to leave behind any noticeable pieces of evidence that they were the ones who killed Ketsueki's gang. For example, Komaba made sure the weapon he used to kill Ketsueki did not have his fingerprints on it. There were pieces of evidence that couldn't be removed, such as the bullets that were in Kano's and Ookami's bodies, but they belonged to a gun that was commonly used by Anti-Skills, Skill-Outs, or any gang members that are able to gain access to guns. As a result, the list of possible suspects was far from small, and it would be difficult to almost impossible to properly narrow it down. While it is true that in Japan, there are strict rules about civilians not being allowed to own guns, except for certain exceptions, it didn't stop a lot of these gangs from getting their hands on them. Unfortunately, the number of people who potentially owned guns in Academy City was much higher than the Anti-Skills would like to admit.

Unfortunately, the investigation went downhill from that point onward. As Kouji Masakage predicted, the insider had done an extremely thorough job. There was no physical evidence that linked him or her to the crime of sabotaging the Child Error facility systems. Most of the known staff of the Child Error facility were either killed, like that security guard Ketseuki murdered, or they had alibis for the approximate time the equipment was believed to have been destroyed. The alibis for all the listed staff were thoroughly investigated, but they all checked out, so everyone was cleared.

However, the investigation did make it clear that the records were incomplete. It appeared that records of certain key personnel, such as the ones supposedly in charge of the facility were deemed to be either "missing" or "destroyed." Normally, that would be suspicious right then and there, but considering all destruction that happened in the facility, it was not unrealistic for key records and documents to be destroyed as well. Despite any and all of the Anti-Skills', especially Yomikawa's, efforts to unearth the truth, it was all in vain. Therestina Kihara Lifeline made sure those who knew that the Kiharas were in charge of this facility wouldn't be a problem. As a result of no feasible evidence to help identify the culprit, the "Child Error Facility Massacre" case was eventually suspended. It sickened Yomikawa to know the villain that was also responsible for this tragedy was going to be getting away with his or her crimes for the time being.

Unfortunately, not only did trying to find the culprit prove to be futile effort, but locating the remaining Child Errors ended in failure as well. The Anti-Skill did what they could to locate the missing Child Errors who had apparently escaped, but not one trace of them was found. There were no witnesses or leads that could help determine their whereabouts. It was almost as if they had dropped off the face of the earth. Yomikawa persistently pursued this mission, but even she was forced to give up.

/

True to her word, Yomikawa ensured that all of the Child Error's received a funeral in the Academy City graveyard in District 10. Graveyards were not common in Academy City since most of the population consisted of students who live away from their families. Even if they died, their remains would be returned to their families. However, since the Child Errors did not have any families, their graves would be placed here.

The bodies of the children were cremated and a family grave was erected in their honor. While it is true that the Child Errors may not have been related to each other by blood, these kids were the closest things to family that they could hope for. The grave listed the names of all the Child Errors and each one had an individual inscription. For Ai's inscription it read:

Rest in Peace

Sasaki Ai – Age 12

A Good Friend and a Strong Heart

Even though Yomikawa only met the girl once, she was confident that the inscription was correct. About a week after the funeral, Yomikawa decided to pay another visit to the graves of the victims, but she noticed something interesting about them. Yomikawa noticed that the Child Error Family grave had had flowers placed on it and there was incense as well. Even though she could not prove it, Yomikawa felt certain this must have been the work of one of Ai's missing friends.

/

On the other side of the story, shortly after the leaving the Child Error facility, Komaba and Wataru brought Touma back to their hideout in "The Strange." Their hideout was also located in District 10. Despite the cheerful attitude that Touma tried to present to Komata and Wataru, they could tell it was a façade. His whole world was crushed, and there was no going back. After they determined that Touma didn't need to go to the hospital, they figured Touma needed to get some sleep. After they managed to get Touma to fall asleep, Komata and Wataru had a serious talk.

"So what are we going to do with the kid," Wataru asked.

"As I said before, letting the authorities take in the kid would be inviting more disaster into his life. That whole 'Esper attack' was planned as some sick experiment those bastard scientists thought up." His hands formed a fist before he continued. "It was already bad enough Level-0's were discriminated against, the fact the scientists let a bunch of children be slaughtered for the sake of their experiment truly crosses the line."

Wataru completely understood Komaba's point of view, but he still felt hesitant about recruiting Touma in their ranks. "I understand, but he is still just a kid. A part of me feels that we should train this kid, so he wouldn't have to live through something like that again. However, there is another part that feels we might ruin his life even further if we do."

Komaba knew Wataru had a point, and he sighed, "That might be true, but I believe he might want to join us willingly."

Wataru did not share Komaba's confidence. "You seem pretty confident about that. What exactly did you say to him back at the Child Error facility?"

Komaba explained himself, "I told him he could be the one that would save others from misfortune. I believe telling him that gave him a new purpose in life. Without a purpose in life, someone could simply be seen as an empty vessel that might as well be dead. I could see it in the kid's face that the despair of that horrific event would be too much for him without a goal to strive for. With our help, he can achieve that goal."

"You are probably right, but that makes the reality of this whole situation harsher. No kid should have to completely lose his innocence like he did." Wataru rubbed his head before continuing. "All that time he spent with his friends is gone forever. He can never be the same carefree kid he used to be. Even if he presents himself like that, it will only be for show."

"I know." Komaba curled his hands into a fist, which caused a loud cracking sound. "There is nothing we can do about that unfortunately. If only we had gotten there sooner, we could have prevented that massacre."

Wataru could emphasize with what Komaba was saying. "I understand what you mean, but it wasn't our fault Komaba-san. We only received the information minutes before that attack happened. We were still a few miles away by the time it happened. We did all we were able to do. The people to blame for this are Ketsueki's gang and the person who hired them to murder those kids."

"I know, but what we saw there was horrific." Komaba sat down and put both hands on his head. "I can hardly imagine what must have gone through that kid's head when he witnessed all of that death." Then his mind came back to seeing Touma holding Ai's bloody body. "Especially that girl's."

Wataru could only feel disgust for those murderous Espers. "I thought Ketsueki and his thugs were low, but raping and killing a girl like that in such a horrific manner just proves what kind of monsters they were. At least they are gone."

As much as Komaba didn't want to belittle their accomplishment of putting an end to that crazy Esper gang, he knew the reality of the situation was still bleak at best. "We both know they were only small fish. Unfortunately, it is only a matter of time before someone else comes along to take their place." Komaba seemed to think back on some past experiences. "We have seen this before. There are a number of scientists who will use Espers to achieve their own ends and replace them when they are done with them."

Knowing Komaba was right Wataru sighed, "If only we were able to tell which scientists are the bad ones and which ones are the good. We would be able to present a more permanent solution to this problem."

"That is one of the reasons why I think Touma would prove to be invaluable to us." Komaba understood that there was a fine line between fighting the monsters and paralleling them, but he hoped to avoid that. "I know this is selfish. We would be using Touma to achieve our own goal. However, I am certain he will be willing to join for the same reasons." Komaba was hoping that would be at least one distinction between himself and the heartless scientists of Academy City. "Even if we can't stop the scientists, we might at least be successful in reducing the number of Espers who abuse their powers. The scientists who need them to achieve their objectives, and if they have fewer people that would be willing to help them, then we can definitely cause some damage to their operations."

After Komaba was finished, Wataru decided to add a distinction of his own. "I can't argue with that reasoning. However, we will still allow this to be his decision. We will explain everything to him, so he will understand what the reality of this situation is and what will be in store for him if he chooses this path." Komaba nodded in agreement to Wataru's conditions without any hesitation.

"If Touma agrees to this, we will both train him. However, I believe he should be your immediate subordinate," Komaba stated firmly.

While he willing to accept the offer, Wataru was surprised by Komaba's suggestion. "I am fine with that, but is there a reason why you would recommend him becoming my subordinate over yourself?"

"I believe under these particular circumstances, the boy might find our tutelage more than my own. It would be more befitting if he works directly for you." Komaba believed that Wataru might have an easier time connecting with Touma than him, and Wataru's martial arts abilities were probably what Touma should concentrate on.

Upon hearing this, Wataru gladly accept, "If you insist, I will agree to your idea."

/

About two hours prior to Yomikawa's arrival at the cemetery, Touma carefully placed the flowers he bought on the grave and lit the incense. "Rest in peace my friends. I promise I will not let any more tragedies like this befall anyone else ever again. I will make sure that you will never be forgotten."

Kurozuma Wataru and Komaba Ritoku couldn't help but remain silent as Touma prayed to his friends. The day after their discussion, they explained everything to Touma. The fact the attack was more than a bunch of ruthless Espers testing out their abilities. It was all part of some experiment, and he was the guinea pig. They told Touma that they didn't know the specific names of the researchers. The only information they had was a possible alias, Kagakusha. The surmised that the researcher or researchers most likely wanted to utilize the trauma that Touma received from the Esper attack to achieve some sort of result since they specifically ordered the Espers not to kill him. Touma accepted everything Wataru and Komaba said without any argument. At that point, Touma was willing to believe almost anything that was reasonably possible.

After they were finished explaining the details to Touma, they told him, he could join Skill-Out and be Wataru's subordinate. They told Touma that he didn't need to make his decision right away. If Touma wished to, he could officially join Wataru's "Big Spider" Skill-Out gang as early as his thirteenth birthday. In the meantime, they promised that they would train him over the next few years, and he if he chooses to stay with Skill-Out or leave, it would be his choice, and they wouldn't hold it against him either way. Touma accepted their offer without any hesitation in his voice nor in his eyes.

Wataru asked Touma if he was completely certain of his choice and whether being a Skill-Out was fine with him. Touma responded that an Anti-Skill Yomikawa told him that Skill-Out members were nothing but trouble, but they saved his life. He told them he knows Skill-Out members like them must be the good guys. Touma stated that his guts were telling him that joining Skill-Out is the best way to achieve his goal.

Wataru asked what that was, Touma responded, "I want to achieve both revenge and justice." Touma didn't say anything more and neither did Wataru and Komaba. However, they both noticed something. The boy's eyes were not those of someone who wished to live but someone who simply felt obligated. Mere days ago, this was a boy who enjoyed having fun with a smile on his face. Now he was nothing more than a mere shell. This was the aftermath of a boy who was forced to leave his childhood long before he should have. There truly was nothing more that could be said.

After Touma was finished praying, he turned around and asked Komaba a question, "Who prepared the proper funeral arrangements Komaba-san?"

"It was the Anti-Skill officer named Yomikawa Aiho. From what I understand, you have met her before. As you can recall, she is very good at her job, and she cares a lot for the children of this city. She took it upon herself to make sure everything was taken care of."

"That was kind of her. I told her that I wanted to become an Anti-Skill when I grew up. It is so ironic that now I have joined Skill-Out instead. This world really might have it in for me huh?"

Wataru said to Touma, "If you are having any second thoughts, you can still decide not to join us."

Touma responded, "No Kurozuma-san. I have made up my mind. I can't possibly go back to living a normal life. Not now. Not like this." Touma looked upon his right hand with great distaste. "Komaba-san you said that bastard Ketsueki called my right hand the 'Imagine Breaker' right?"

Komaba was wondering where Touma was going with this, "That is correct."

Touma kept flexing his right hand and said, "I think I know why."

Wataru and Komaba decided to remain silent to hear what Touma had to hear.

Touma looked in Wataru and Komaba's direction, "I don't understand too many things about Esper related topics, but I know that something called 'Personal Reality' is the source of an Esper's powers. Basically, the 'Personal Realities' of any high Level Esper gives them the illusion that they are better than anyone else because they have power. My right hand allows me to negate that. It 'breaks' their illusions of dominance. I am going to use this right hand, and . . .," hesitated somewhat with what we was about to say and then he shouted while holding up his right hand, "I WILL BREAK THEIR ILLUSIONS." Touma face almost looked like tears were ready to start bursting from his eyes. Touma was giving it everything he could to prevent them from coming. He felt like he needed to do everything he could to prevent himself from looking weak in front of Wataru and Komaba.

After Touma said that, there was silence for a few moments. Eventually, Wataru decided to break the silence, "Alright. Your resolve to join Skill-Out is accepted. I won't try to convince you otherwise."

Touma gave Wataru a respectful bow, "Thank you Kurozuma-san."

Komaba told Touma, "After we take care of some things, we will get you started on your training."

Touma responded, "Yes sir."

Wataru gave Touma one last reminder of what is to come. "This is not going to be an easy road kid, but as long as you maintain your resolve, you will become a suitable member. Remember, if you can't maintain your resolve, I am afraid you won't be in a position to save anyone. We will be there to help you on the way."

Touma didn't want to say anything to Wataru's remark, but he understood that Kurozuma was correct. He just nodded. After deciding on his path, he gave his friends another goodbye, and they went back to the hideout.

/

In the aftermath of the attack on the Child Error facility, the old man scientist, Kihara Gensei, was able to review the video feed he was able to retrieve from the incident. While it was true the cameras in the facility were destroy, he was able to record the incident through tiny hidden cameras he planted himself throughout the facility. After they served their purpose and sent the data back to his computer, they promptly self-destructed leaving no evidence behind. Even if any of the remains were noticeable, what was left would be impossible to analyze even for a professional forensic analyst. It would be easy for anyone to assume it was a piece of something that was destroyed during the attack.

Over the course of reviewing the video, Kihara Gensei was finally able to understand why the General Director was so interested in the boy. The boy's right hand apparently had the capability of negating any Esper abilities that it touches. "These results certainly are interesting." The old man said with a creepy smile on his face. Afterwards, he sent the video feed to his granddaughter and decided to listen to her opinion.

Therestina Kihara Lifeline was fuming upon watching this video. "How could that little bastard escape? Who killed Ketsueki? That Esper was valuable research material, and now all that time, money, and effort has all been wasted! Not to mention, I went through hell trying to make sure that little bastard would be comfortable and happy. The only reason I put up with him was so he would willingly become our guinea pig."

The old man calmly stated, "Apparently, the people on that video feed were several members of Skill-Out that decided to get in our way. While it should have been easy for Ketsueki to kill them, his arrogance is what led to his death. It is truly a pity that we lost both him and little Touma-chan. However, this could still work for us."

Her frustration changed to confusion. "What do you mean?"

His face remained completely unchanged as he explained himself. "Regardless, of who interfered, our little Touma-chan should still be psychologically affected by this whole experience. That was the true goal after all. While it would have been preferable for him to come under our control, there is a chance we might get results from him without even lifting a finger ourselves."

What her grandfather was saying started to dawn on her. "Are you saying . . .?"

"That is correct. There is a high probability that our little Touma-chan will feel compelled to make sure such a tragedy never befalls anyone ever again. He has obviously already figured out that right hand of his is nothing ordinary, and he knows he can use it to fight Esper abilities. As you know, the whole point of the experiment was to push our little Touma-chan to the point of despair, and we would have offered him a chance to potentially help prevent future disasters. We would have been able to continually analyze his arm and test his limits ourselves. Unfortunately, your mercenaries obviously didn't understand they were suppose to quiet about the orders to not kill that boy, so I doubt we will ever be able to get him to follow us willingly now."

Despite saying that, he did not get angry at all. "However, there is no doubt those Skill-Outs have offered him a similar proposal. While it does pain me somewhat that someone else is working on my research material, it is possible that letting things run their course will produce greater results than what we initially planned. I think we should leave him alone for a little while, so he can understand his limits a little more." Therestina began to grow a wicked grin upon hearing this. She really liked where this was going. "After he becomes confident, he will attempt to learn the truth. Then, we will know how to handle him. Whether he learns the truth or not makes no difference because the end result will most likely be what we were looking for, and I am sure the General Director is fine with this."

This gave Therestina an idea that caused her face to change from wicked to borderline psychotic, "Oh I think I have an idea of what we can do."

The old man was somewhat interested in his granddaughter's idea, "What would that be?"

"We will do what you said for a while. We will leave him alone, and let him attempt to figure out those limits of his. However, at the appropriate moment, we will give him some bait, which will be a tidbit of information regarding us. Similar to any pathetic animal, he will come running for it, and we will have our trap ready for him." This time it was the old man's turn to form an even creepier smile. It really pleased him this woman was his granddaughter. "He will find himself in a near life-and-death battle with someone we can manipulate. Of course, we will tell them to bring that brat to us alive or whatever the General Director wants us to do with him at that point."

Therestina brushed her hair with her hand before she continued, "Whether that brat wins or loses is of almost no consequence to us because we will certainly yield some interesting results regarding his Imagine Breaker. If he does win, he will be properly rewarded with that tidbit of information regarding our family, but it will not be enough for him to track us down or do anything about us. However, similar to any other animal, he will crave for more, and we can start the whole cycle all over again. We will just have to make sure it doesn't appear too easy, so he won't get suspicious."

The old man chuckled for a moment, "I believe that is a good suggestion. That will definitely yield more interesting results for us. I certainly hope our little Touma-chan will be up for the task. His life will depend on it as well as our research. Although, I am certain Heaven Canceller will be of assistance to us as well. As long as a patient comes to him while he or she is alive, he will save that patient without fail. Knowing that, I am certain our little Touma-chan will not have to worry about dying without producing our desired results just yet."

"That's true. Without him almost all of our research subjects would be useless to us now, including Nayuta. Now her body is more of a machine than that of a regular human. Of course, who really cares about that anyway? She is merely a Kihara in name." Therestina decided that it would be in their best interest to change the subject to a new experiment. "In the meantime, it is useless waiting around for any results to come from that little brat. I suggest we temporarily move onto a subject we can start working on right now."

"I agree. There is another batch of Child Errors that we can experiment on as well. That experiment will take some time to prepare, and it might be difficult to yield any results if the subjects are not willing to go through with it."

Therestina was almost afraid of the direction her grandfather was going with this new experiment. "Are you suggesting that I should have to become 'close' with brats like that to help make another experiment possibly yield results?"

The old man simply chuckled, "Not this time."

Hearing her grandfather say that was music to Therestina's ears. She just couldn't stomach the idea of trying to be friendly with her research subjects again. "That is a relief. It was hardly bearable to act friendly to that little bastard and his friends." She shivered in disgust. "The very fact his friends are dead, so he may finally prove that he was even worth my time is pretty much the only thing that soothes me now."

Ignoring what his granddaughter just said he told her, "I will send Kiyama-kun to act as the teacher for those Child Errors."

Therestina was less than impressed with her grandfather's choice. She asked him, "Why would you choose someone like her?"

The old man casually explained, "Since she has teacher's license, it will be a good enough excuse to get her to go along with this. Not to mention, that she desires good results almost as much as we do. Her research has been more important to her over the years than her personal life. She hasn't even celebrated her own birthday in years, so it will be simple to persuade her to follow my orders. By telling her to take care of those Child Errors for the sake of research, she will have to do it."

Despite the explanation, Therestina still found the move questionable. "You're not worried she might develop an attachment to those brats?"

Despite his granddaughter brining up that potential mishap, it didn't appear to affect the old man's choice. He simply kept his creepy smile and continued his explanation. "Whether she develops an attachment to them or not is irrelevant. All she needs to do is gain their trust. If she is taking care of them, they will surely trust her eventually. After all, I am certain little Touma-chan trusted you as well. If you would have asked to perform a certain experiment for you, I am certain he would have volunteered willingly."

Therestina shot her grandfather a questioning look, "Why didn't we? There were a few experiments I would have wanted to put him through."

"As you should know, having little Touma-chan participate in any of your experiments could have potentially been counterproductive to this experiment. We needed his world to be built up overtime, so we could destroyed it. It was a process that needed to be handled with the upmost caution." If it was even possible, he smile grew even larger. "It makes me proud to say that we were successful regardless of who interfered."

Theristina was not as confident as her grandfather. "I certainly hope so. Otherwise, I would try to hunt down and kill him myself. After all, test subjects that try to ruin our hard work would be better off being disposed of."

The old man decided it was useless to tell his granddaughter otherwise, but a part of him agreed with her logic. "True. In the meantime, I will focus on getting Kiyama-kun into grooming the Child Errors for us while you temporally assist Yoshikawa-san and Amai-kun with their Experiment."

Therestina smiled upon hearing that and said, "With pleasure."

Before cutting off his communication link he told his granddaughter one last thing, "By the way, be sure to tie up any loose ends to the incident in the Child Error facility. I am counting on Therestina."

Therestina knew what she needed to do, "It will be done."

With that the old man cut off his signal, and Therestina walked to her desired experiment. She was looking forward to conducting an experiment that didn't involve her taking care of any 'real' children.

Within a couple of weeks, the research facility Therestina ordered Ketsueki's men to attack the Child Error facility was destroyed due to the structure being deemed 'unstable.' On the surface, it was a routine demolition, but it was the final noticeable loose end that Therestina knew of. Any remaining evidence that could have linked the Kihara's to the incident was destroyed along with that building.

/

_It was a bloody scene. Touma was in the Child Error facility again. The entire room was filled with corpses. Everywhere he looked, he just kept seeing more and more of them. Some of them were burned, some were crushed, some were strangled, some were ripped apart, and some were slashed._

_Touma didn't know how long he could stand to see this. Then all of a sudden he heard some voices. They kept repeating, "Why couldn't you help us Touma?" Touma then saw that all of the corpses eyes were looking right at him. They kept repeating, "Why couldn't you help us Touma?," again and again._

_It didn't take long for Touma to reach his breaking point before he started running with his eyes closed and his hands covering his ears. He didn't care if he might run into something. At this point, getting knocked unconscious was preferable to seeing all of those eyes and hearing those voices. _

_After he was done running, he opened his eyes and saw that there was nothing around him anymore. It appeared he managed to escape from those bodies. All of a sudden he heard a noise that sounded like someone's footsteps. He looked around, and all he could see was nothingness. When he thought that maybe it was his mind playing tricks on him, he heard footsteps behind him. He then slowly turned around to be shocked with what he was seeing._

_It was Ai with her throat cut, her body beaten and sliced, and blood covering almost every inch of her. Her eyes were hallow and her face was filled with despair. Touma didn't know if he was more shocked or scared by what he was witnessing. Then the girl started walking towards him. Touma started to back away, but something caused him to trip, and he fell. The girl kept approaching him, and he tried to inch away, but to no avail. She then touched Touma's cheek with her blood stained hand and asked him, "Touma. Why couldn't you save me?" Tears started coming down her face._

_Touma began to hyperventilate and began to cry in despair._

/

Touma woke up to find that he was in the room that Wataru and Komaba allowed him to live in. His body was covered in sweat. He tried to rub it off his face, but he was sweating so profusely it didn't matter. Touma saw that it was raining outside. It seemed pretty befitting considering what he just saw.

Unlike his previous nightmare before the attack on the Child Error facility, he was able to remember almost every single detail of what he just saw. He could remember the blood and voices perfectly. It had been sometime since he began living with the Skill-Out, but this nightmare has continued to haunt him ever since the incident. He has never told anyone else about this nightmare. Touma felt like he would merely be a burden to them if he did, and he already felt like he was too dependent enough on them as it was. Touma believed it would be for the best to keep these issues to himself.

Touma then clenched his right hand into a tight fist and brought his knees to his head. He said outloud, "I'm sorry everyone." The rain outside kept pouring outside, but it didn't interrupt Touma's thought process. "I'm sorry Ai."

/

During Touma's time living with the Skill-Out, Touma did as Komaba and Wataru told him, and he attended a local school. As Komaba said, the school wasn't a notable one, and Touma didn't appear to attract anyone's attention. He may still have had his share of misfortunes, but hardly anyone in his class seemed to notice. No one made a big deal about his presence, and he didn't really interact with anyone there. If the teacher didn't call his name in class for attendance, no one would even know what his name was. Touma was almost an invisible person to everyone else in his school.

Touma's lack of interaction with his classmates wasn't completely his fault. While it was his own choice, Touma's psyche was irreversibly scarred after that incident at the Child Error facility. He witnessed nearly everyone of his friends die brutal deaths in front of him, but seeing Ai raped and murdered less than ten feet away from him was the straw that broke the camel's back. The look in her eyes before she died was not the look of the friend he always knew. As a result of that incident, Touma's heart was left irreparably broken.

Ever since the incident at the Child Error facility, Touma had become unable to naturally produce a smile of his own. Due to this, Touma seemed like an unfriendly individual, and anyone who saw his face decided to just ignore him and go about their business. A part of Touma still desired friendship and to make connections with others, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Whenever he considered talking to someone in his class, there was a feeling in his heart that just hurt too much.

Even though Wataru and Komaba told Touma it wasn't necessary, Touma decided he needed to earn his keep. If it wasn't enough that they gave him a place to stay, they also promised to help train him, so he would be capable of contributing. Touma refused to let himself become a burden to them, so he decided he needed to get a job. He managed to find a restaurant that would be willing to hire him despite his young age. Touma was made an assistant to the chef who decided to take him under his wing. While working there, Touma did everything he could to produce a fake smile. It looked so real that almost anyone who didn't know him would be fooled by it.

However, despite how Touma really felt, he didn't let that interfere with his work. While Touma did have a lot of trouble at first with cooking, he was eventually able to get the hang of it. The head chef was pleased with the progress Touma had made in such a short period of time. It wasn't too long before Touma was able to start preparing meals on his own without always needing the head chef's supervision.

Unfortunately, there was one time that Touma had trouble keeping up his false bravado. Due to his constant nightmares and guilt, Touma finally reached his limit. He screwed up an order by accidently putting in some of the wrong ingredients. The head chef was not too angry with Touma, but he could tell that something was bothering Touma. He decided to allow Touma to leave early, so Touma could get his head together. Touma reluctantly agreed.

Even though it was raining, Touma decided that he didn't want to just go home yet. He took his umbrella and decided to take a walk. He didn't know how long or how far he walked, but it gave him a lot to think about.

His mind just kept coming back to what Komaba and Wataru told him. The Espers who attacked the Child Error facility didn't attack it without help or orders. Touma thought to himself, _"No one came to save us in the Child Error facility was due to someone disabling all the systems that would have normally altered the Anti-Skill. If I am to believe Komaba-san and Kurozuma-san, similar incidents have happened in Academy City's past as well. If all of those instances was due to someone on the inside, was it always the same person? Or were all the people in league with each other. Did any of those scientists and staff people actually care about us? Or were they getting us ready for what was going to happen? Did that person or those people really think nothing of the value of people's lives?"_

The rain just kept on pouring, and as one would expect from Touma's luck, his umbrella broke apart from the storm. While he still had his raincoat, he was drenched from the pouring rain. However, he didn't care that he was getting wet from the rain at all. All he did was stand there for a few moments before looking up into the sky as if something up there could give him an answer. "_I never thought anyone could be that cruel. I have seen people become cruel, but I have always been able to understand why. Those men tried to kill me when I was a child because my bad luck caused something terrible to happen to them, and it destroyed their lives. However, I know they still valued human life in general, even if they didn't value my life. Whoever helped those Espers murder my friends must have no regard for the importance of someone's life. I just can't bring myself to understand who could possibly go so far to merely achieve some kind of result?" _

Touma's mind kept racing. He thought of everyone that he had ever met. Besides Ai, Yuudai, and his other Child Error friends, he couldn't help but wonder how many people had he met who were genuinely kind to him? His confusion kept persisting, and he wasn't able to come up with a real conclusion. _"I know I can trust Komaba-san and Kurozuma-san, but who else can I trust in Academy City. Can I trust my boss? Can I trust my teachers? Can I trust any scientists in general? Or are they all going to groom me, so they can just offer me up later? I just don't know what to believe in anymore."_

No sooner had he thought that, he heard something from across the street. He looked, and he saw a little girl had slipped on the ground. It appeared she was hurt, and her clothes were a mess. Touma considered going over there to ask her if she was okay, but someone else had beaten him to the punch. It was an older woman with short wavy brown hair. She wore a black uniform, and something about her made Touma believe she was a teacher. While he was in the Child Error facility, he attended different classes with his friends, and they all gave off a certain vibe that he was feeling by just looking at this woman.

Touma became interested in this exchange between the girl and woman. Unfortunately, he couldn't hear them from across the street, but he could see their faces. From what he was seeing, the woman seemed to be offering the girl assistance, and the girl seemed eager to accept it. Based on the woman's facial expression, it seemed like this kind act was genuine. This seemed to be a heartwarming scene that Touma was witnessing. Touma thought, _"Well I guess I can never be completely sure about something like that unless I really get to know them. However, I suppose this could mean that there are at least some adults in Academy City besides Yomikawa who value human life and aren't purely looking for results."_ Touma saw the girl and the teacher walk next to each other. Afterwards, he decided it was time for him to head home as well. For the first time in a long time, Touma was finally able to smile. It was a weak smile, but it was still progress.

/

_The following day_

The head chef was happy to welcome Touma back, "Hello there Touma-san. Are you feeling better."

Touma gave a response with a genuine, but somewhat weak smile, "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."

The chef could tell that something was different about Touma today. "Your aura seems a little better today than it was yesterday. Any reason in particular?

Touma told him, "I took a walk, and I saw something very nice happen yesterday."

The chef decided to leave it at that, and it was the start of another successful day at the restaurant.

/

**Omake**

_Hamazura comes running into the area, and he is out of breath._

Hamazura: (breathing heavily) Hey (breathes in and out) guys.

Touma: What is it Hamazura?

Hamazura: Since the author is going into some detail about your time in Skill-Out, specifically Big Spider, does that mean I will get to make an appearance as well.

Touma: (With a casual tone) Nope

Hamazura: WHAT?

Touma: Sorry Hamazura, but it is a no can do.

Hamazura: But why not?

Touma: The author asked Stormwolfex-san whether I actually know you or not due to my time in Skill-Out, but Stormwolfex-san told the author the answer was a surprise. As a result, the author is simply going to avoid making any references to you whatsoever.

Hamazura: You have got to be kidding me. (He slumps down to the ground.)

Touma: Nope. (Turns around to face the audience) Sorry folks, but unless the author gets the green light from Stormwolfex-san, Hamazura will not be getting any scenes. Apparently, Stormwolfex-san has or had plans of his own regarding Hamazura. Unfortunately, you will have to make due for now.

/

**Disclaimer**: Needless to say, I am not the owner of "Toaru Majutsu no Index" or "A Certain Scientific Railgun." Those are the properties of Kamachi Kazuma, J.C. Staff, Seven Seas Entertainment, and Funimation.

**Author Notes**: I have now completed the penultimate chapter of "Birth of the Devil." I knew this one wouldn't be nearly as long as the previous chapter since there weren't going to be any fight scenes, but I like the direction I went with this chapter. I thought it would be a good idea to split the story for this chapter into three different main sections: the Anti-Skill, the Scientists, and the Skill-Out. This way I would be able to explore how each of the sides were affected by the final outcome of the events of the attack on the Child Error facility, and the decisions they made afterwards, hence the chapter title.

As of this moment, I am planning to bring this side story to an end by February 18th, 2012. I have the final chapter mostly planned out, and I already know what the final scene will be. Hopefully, it will not take too long to iron out the remaining details. After I accomplish that, I will begin working on the next side story I have planned out. Thanks to a mixture of the information Stormwolfex provided me last year and my own creativity I actually have at least four or five side stories partly planned out. Some of them will be one-shots while others will be multi-chapter side stories like this one.

I look forward to the day I bring them all to fruition. Thank you all for your support so far, and I look forward to reading more reviews. Additionally, be sure to support Stormwolfex's original story as well, and ask him to begin updating the main story again.


	5. Story I: Birth of the Devil Part V

**Author Notes**: The final chapter has finally come, and it was released by February 18th, 2012 as promised. Originally, when I first started planning this story out back in October, I thought it was only going to be three chapters, but that plan quickly changed.

Shortly after I started writing, I realized this would probably be at least four chapters. When I was almost done with the first chapter, I decided that five chapters would be perfect for this side story. Additionally, while I was writing the first chapter, I decided what the last scene was going to be. Hope you enjoy the conclusion of the first side story.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Story One: Birth of the Devil – Part V (Final)

The Future

/

My new life begins

My former life is all gone

I will leave no trace

/

Story Focus – Kamijou Touma

Age: Nearly 13

Location: Academy City – District 10 – Cemetery

It was 10:00 a.m. on a Saturday, and Touma was apparently the only visitor in the Cemetery. It was a regular occurrence for Touma to visit the grave of his friends and pray. He would visit a few times every month, light some incense, and pray.

After Touma was finished praying he spoke out loud to the grave, "Hey guys. I'm back." A few moments passed. It seemed like Touma was hoping to hear some response from the grave before continuing, "Even though a year-and-a-half has passed, I am still having trouble finding the words to say to you. I guess all I can really say is that I am going through with my decision. I will be officially joining the 'Big Spider' division of Skill-Out under Kurozuma-san's command, and it feels like that is the easiest decision I have ever made."

Touma paused after saying that and looked up into the sky almost as if he was expecting something to come down. Then, he looked back at grave. "I just can't bring myself to live a normal life after what happened that day. If I do, I don't think I can ever forgive myself. The people who killed you guys are dead, but the other people responsible need to be brought to justice. I don't care if the law can't bring them down, I will kill them myself."

A part of Touma almost couldn't believe what he just said. Saying out loud that he would be willing to kill someone gave him a shortness of breath. Before continuing he took several deep breaths and regained his composure. "This whole situation is a Catch-22. If I don't do anything, more people will be killed like you all were, and I don't think I can ever live with myself. However, if I join Skill-Out, I will probably die. However, me dying by itself isn't really what bothers me. If I die, it could simply be wasting what Ai did for me. I know that you want me to have a good life Ai. However, since I know they weren't supposed to kill me in the first place, you shouldn't have had to make the ultimate sacrifice."

While Touma was feeling incredibly sad while saying this, there were no tears. He had not shed one tear since the day of Ai's death. "You saved me from getting a savage beating, and I will always be grateful to you for that, but I never wanted you to make that sacrifice. If I knew getting beaten was the only price I had to pay to keep you alive, I would have paid it a thousand times even if it meant that I would have died from those injuries."

His right hand formed into a tight fist before he continued. "Your life was more important than my own. I still consider it more important than my own. I don't deserve to live more than you do. However, those people deserve to live even less. The same goes to any Esper who tries to hurt anyone simply because they feel believe they are superior to regular humans. I will break all of their illusions. I promise I will do what I can to not kill anyone, but I can't guarantee it."

Touma then took a good long look at his right hand before continuing. "Even if it means I need to become a devil or that Kamijou Touma can no longer exist, as long as it means I will be saving lives, I will be willing to pay that price."

/

Touma continued to stare at the grave for a while without saying another word until he was approached by someone. Touma turned around and it was a boy wearing sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt. He was about Touma's age, but he looked like he could easily hold his own in any fight.

Touma said in an almost unemotional tone to the boy, "Are you Tsuchimikado Motoharu?"

The boy responded, "That is correct Kamijou-san."

Touma said, "Then I suppose I should thank you."

"Thank me for what?" Tsuchimikado looked legitimately confused.

Touma explained, "If it weren't for you, Kurozuma-san and Komaba-san wouldn't have been able to kill those bastards for me. I was told you helped them at a discount as well." Tsuchimikado could tell that Touma was genuinely grateful.

The Tsuchimikado gave a simple response, "I might have a chronic-backstabbing disorder and be willing to offer my services to anyone who pays me, but the things those guys did, especially their leader Ketseuki, disgusted me. That time I was a little more motivated to help your Skill-Out friends."

Touma knew there was more to Tsuchimikado's reasoning than that, but he decided not to pursue it any further. Instead, he decided to make a request to this spy. "So you would be willing to do a job for me if I pay you an appropriate amount?"

Tsuchimikado gave Touma a neutral business-like face before answering, "That is generally how I operate Kamijou-san."

Touma took a deep breath before making his request. "I want you to find out some information on a certain Anti-Skill. Her name is Aiho Yomikawa. My primary concern is to know where she lives, but I also want you to gather any other information about her if possible."

Tsuchimikado shot Touma a questioning look, "Why are you so interested in her?"

"She provided the funeral arrangements for my friends, and I want to be able to thank her personally." Touma ran his hand through his hair before he continued. "However, I also know that if I go see her, there is a chance she might take me in, and I will not be able to get away. Knowing the best way to get away from her is extremely important to me as well."

Tsuchimikado felt there was a hole in Touma's plan in expressing his gratitude towards that woman. "Why would you risk seeing her personally? You could simply leave her a note, and you won't have to worry about her capturing you."

Touma responded, "For what she had done for me, she deserves better than a note. I want her to know that I am grateful to her. That is all."

However, Tsuchimikado was still unsure how Touma was going to properly handle the risks. "Do you simply plan on letting her see your face? If you do, I doubt she will not try to pursue you in her own way?"

"We have already met, so she might recognize me. Regardless, I don't plan on letting her see the face I have now. The face she saw back then is no longer my own." Touma put his left hand on his face almost as if he was trying to hide something. "As far as I can tell, her not seeing my face is more important than knowing what my original name is. Even if she does try to find me, it will only lead to a dead end because I will no longer exist in the world that she belongs to. The name Kamijou Touma will be erased."

This caught Tsuchimikado's interest, and he questioned Touma further, "Then what will your name be?"

Touma refused to give Tsuchimikado an answer, "I can't afford to tell you yet. After all, you just told me you have a chronic-backstabbing disorder."

Tsuchimikado grinned, "Touche Kamijou-san."

Touma figured if he was going to eliminate his name, he might as well start with this person. "You don't have to call me Kamijou-san anymore. Since I don't plan on using that name anymore, the fewer people who call me by that name, the better."

Tsuchimikado may not have said it, but his grin told Touma that Tsuchimikado liked his style. He then said, "All right. How about we go with Kami-yan?"

Even Touma had to admit that nickname sounded absolutely ridiculous, Touma didn't give the Tsuchimikado the satisfaction of a laugh. Instead he told Tsuchimikado with a straight face, "That's fine."

Tsuchimikado decided to get back to business. "Well that's settled. Do you think you can afford my rates Kami-yan?"

Touma replied, "I know how much you would charge me. I can afford it with no problem. I have been working at a restaurant for the past year and a half, and I have more than enough money saved."

"Is that so? Very well then." Tsuchimikado felt that there was something else that Touma wished to accomplish. "Is there anything else you want me to do?"

Touma thought about it for a moment. "Yes there is." He wrote on a piece of paper, and handed it to Tsuchimikado. "I want you to find the people on this list. Are you able to do that for me?"

Tsuchimikado grinned, "Who do you think I am Kami-yan?"

Kami-yan's answer was, "A chronic-backstabbing, freelance spy who can accomplish a job as long as he is paid the proper amount."

"Exactly. We can work out the details of payment later. It wouldn't feel right even for me to discuss money issues in a graveyard." Tsuchimikado proceeded to leave and said to Touma as he was leaving. "See ya later Kami-yan."

Touma was alone again next to the Child Error grave, and began talking to the grave once more. "You heard right. The day I officially join Skill-Out will be the day I leave behind the name Kamijou Touma. A part of me died that day with you guys, and it will never be replaced. However, even though I won't be Kamijou Touma anymore, I promise I will still come and visit you guys. I told you that I will never let you be forgotten, and that will never change." Touma then turned and walked away from his friends' grave.

/

In a science facility in District 21, Therestina and Gensei are having another conversation about a recent turn of events.

Therestina said to Gensei, "I understand that woman is still trying to find a way to save those Child Error brats."

Gensei responded in a calm matter of fact tone, "This will be the twenty-third time Kiyama-kun has asked to use the Tree Diagram to perform her calculations to find a way to awaken the Child Errors."

"Are you going to interfere again?" She was aware of Gensei's previous involvements, but she had a hard time understanding why he was so adamant on stopping Kiyama.

"Of course I am." "I may not be the only one who has been preventing Kiyama-kun from using the device, but I have been playing my role."

"While I understand that you wish to keep those brats for a future purpose, you seem more interested in that woman than those brats."

"I want to see what action she will take in her quest to save them." Gensei's face seemed to light up after saying that.

Therestina was still not satisfied with her grandfather's explanation. "Isn't she already taking action now?"

Gensei knew that he needed to further explain himself. "Not what I had in mind. This whole experience has given me interesting results since the start. I want to see more."

However, Therestina was unsure of what to make of this. "I still don't understand."

"When I originally assigned Kiyama-kun to be the teacher for the Child Errors, I did believe there was a possibility that she would grow attached to them." Gensei's face began to form its creepy trademark smile. "However, I was amazed by how much those children softened her. Her reaction to seeing those children fall into their comas was something I almost didn't see coming. It was quite a spectacle."

Therestina seemed to understand what her grandfather was saying now, but she still wasn't sure of what good would come of this. "Are you sure she won't become a problem?"

Gensei answered, "She wouldn't be a threat at all if I let her use the Tree Diagram. However, that wouldn't lead to any interesting results. I want to see what lengths she will take to save those Child Errors."

It finally dawned on Therestina what Gensei was getting at. "Are you hoping she will give up on the lawful way of doing things and hope she will uncover something unique on her own or come up with some sort of method to achieve her goal?"

The smile on Gensei's face told Therestina that she hit the nail right on the mark. He then said, "Precisely. It is amazing how such a simple experiment can branch off into numerous additional experiments that we were never able to predict. Science is truly an extraordinary field."

"It really is." Therestina said in agreement. "The best part of our position is there is no shortage of test subjects here."

"Indeed. I look forward to the day I see some results from Kiyama-kun. They will certainly be exquisite." Gensei put a special emphasis on the word 'exquisite.' If any sane person had heard him say that, it would make the setting uncomfortable.

/

Over the past year-and-a-half Touma has lived in "The Strange," Touma's life has been heavily mixed with a number of activities that were a strange combination for someone his age. His new lifestyle consisted of going to school, training to become a capable fighter, working at a restaurant, and visiting the grave of his friends. Touma rarely did anything that most people would consider fun, such as going to the movies, playing in the park, or attempting to make new friends. As far as Touma was concerned, that was not the world he was meant to live in anymore. The only times he seemed to do anything out of the ordinary was when Wataru and Komaba would push him to do something different or whenever he would take walks around certain parts of the city on a whim.

However, Touma's time of working at a restaurant has done him a lot of good. While Touma may not have the easiest time understanding Esper related subjects, he was able to pick up cooking skills relatively quickly. After partially settling his emotional issues over a year ago, it wasn't before long Touma was able to develop a couple of recipes of his own. The reception for his meals was outstanding.

Even outside the restaurant, Touma's cooking skills were highly praised. From time to time, he used his skills to occasionally act as the Skill-Out's chef. It was hard to believe that a pre-teen could have that much talent in cooking. Throughout Touma's time in Skill-Out, he only interacted with a handful of the Skill-Out members. He rarely ate meals with anyone in Skill-Out, preferring to eat by himself in the kitchen or in his room.

The only people Touma interacted with on a regular basis were Kurozuma Wataru, Komaba Ritoku, and Hebitani Tsuguo. As a result, only a handful of the Skill-Out even knew what Touma's name was. However, in hindsight, it would be easier for Touma since he would officially be entering the Skill-Out under a new identity. For the Skill-Out he did interact with, he would act in a causal friendly manner, but Wataru and Komaba knew that it was all for show.

While Touma was capable of being happy, no amount of counseling would be enough to heal his emotional wounds. His experience that day had caused him to become emotionally withdrawn and his emotional growth was stinted. It could be interpreted that Touma's goal for this was to give no reason for people to mourn him after he dies. He would just be a bleep off the face of the earth.

Whether that really was Touma's goal or not will remain open to interpretation. However, after Touma witnessed that moment between the little girl and the teacher over a year ago, Touma eventually decided to open up to Wataru and Komaba. He told them both about why he came to Academy City in the first place and what his constant bad luck had brought him in the past. Touma told them that he would do anything to prevent other people from facing similar misfortunes in the future.

/

Before Touma began his training, Touma, Wataru, and Komaba decided to thoroughly test the limits of Touma's power. There was an Esper that Wataru was on good terms with who had the code name of "Kai Sui." That Esper had the ability to control water, so they were able to test Touma's Imagine Breaker without worrying about injuring Touma. They were able to determine that Touma's ability was exclusively located on Touma's right hand. Whenever Kai Sui would have his powers touch any other part of Touma's body, Touma would get drenched as if he didn't have the Imagine Breaker in the first place.

The fact Esper powers even seemed to affect Touma's right shoulder and upper arm made Touma feel especially nervous. This means if an Esper is able to attack his right shoulder or any other part of his right arm, his right arm could be cut off. For some reason, Touma was more nervous at the thought of losing his right arm than an Esper ability of blowing a hole through his chest or being decapitated. Touma knew he should be worrying about those kinds of attacks more, but he just couldn't. It was almost as if something inside him was telling him that keeping his right arm attached to his body was his highest priority.

They also performed a few other tests as well. Touma was able to learn that even his Imagine Breaker required a certain amount of time to negate Esper powers. Even though Touma was always able to negate Kai Sui's attack, the stronger attacks took slightly longer to completely nullify. It became apparent there was a possibility there were Esper attacks that could overwhelm his Imagine Breaker.

During the course of the experiments, they also found that if Touma's right had is in direct contact with an Esper, that Esper will be unable to use his or her abilities. However, the moment Touma lets go of the Esper, his or her powers will return to normal. In addition to these experiments, Kai Sui also proved to be useful in getting Touma used to fighting with his Imagine Breaker. It was training that would help prepare Touma for the trails he was about to face.

However, Touma knew he could not simply rely on his Imagine Breaker to fight other Espers. The attack on the Child Error Institute and the experiments with Kai Sui made that clear. Wataru took Touma under his wing and trained him, so Touma could hold his own against both Espers and opponents who didn't need to rely on abilities to fight. Thanks to Wataru's tutelage Touma eventually became a reasonably skilled fighter. However, Touma still had a long way to go before he could ever reach Wataru's level. For that manner, he was still not even as strong as Tsumikado Motoharu. However, the skills he obtained would be enough to keep him alive in his upcoming battles.

Recently, Wataru began training a new recruit whose name was, Konori Mii. She had short black hair and wore glasses. She was about Touma's age, had a mature personality, and was very responsible. Touma met her, she reminded him of Ai to an extent. That was probably the reason Touma was willing to socialize with her more than the other members of Skill-Out. Besides Wataru and Komaba, she became the closest thing Touma had to a friend. They also bonded by occasionally sparring with each other. Konori became a skilled fighter under Wataru's instruction as well, and their "rivalry" proved to be helpful for the both of them.

In addition to Wataru's training, Komaba also trained Touma as well. Touma was able to build his endurance and improve his speed significantly thanks to Komaba. Komaba was impressed by how quick Touma's reflexes had become whenever they would spar together. Despite Touma's age, Komaba provided Touma with some gun training as well. While both Wataru and Komaba were somewhat hesitant to train Touma in handling a gun, they did understand that Touma would not always be able to rely on his fists and being able to attack from a distance at times would be to his benefit.

Touma's accuracy with his gun was excellent. He was able to shoot targets that were over fifty meters away accurately. Touma made it a special point to make sure he could properly use a gun in both his right and left hand in case there was an unforeseen circumstance that one of his arms were incapacitated. After training for over a year-and-a-half, Touma was able to dual wield guns.

Before Touma could officially join "Big Spider," Komaba told Touma that when the time arises to use his weapons, he needs to be ready to use them. Komaba told him that those weapons are not meant for threats but for actions and to be careful of what action he would take. Touma understood what Komaba meant, and Touma promised he would be careful and only use them when necessary. Touma felt he would be better off using his fists rather than his weapons. Komaba was satisfied with Touma's response and let him keep the guns for his future as a member of "Big Spider."

/

A few days before Touma's birthday, Touma decided to have a private conversation with Wataru in the "Big Spider's" hideout.

Touma said to Wataru, "I will be turning thirteen soon. It's almost time for me to officially join 'Big Spider' Wataru."

Wataru chuckled a little, "Time certainly flies by huh?"

Touma nodded in agreement, "Yes it does."

Wataru needed to make sure that Touma had taken care of everything he felt was necessary. "Have you taken care of everything you needed to?"

Touma immediately said, "I have."

Wataru decided to test Touma, "What about your parents?"

With a stoic face, Touma told Wataru, "I sent them my final letter yesterday. I also sent one to my friend Mikoto."

This wasn't enough. Wataru questioned Touma further, "Don't you think they are going to get suspicious and want to find you after you don't respond to any more of their messages?"

Without expressing any emotion, Touma said, "Of course I do. They are good people. They have always cared about my well-being, and would never support the decision that I have chosen, but I still need to."

Wataru knew that Touma had carefully considered everything, but he needed to be sure, "I take it you thought things through."

"Yes sir. Over the past year-and-a-half, I have remained in contact with my parents, but there have been two instances when I told them, I would not be able to contact them for a couple of months. I have just sent my final letter to them that more or less states the same thing." Touma decided to elaborate more on why the letter would be effective. "However, this time I told them that I volunteered for an experiment for an ability on my right arm, and I can't contact anyone for confidentially purposes. It will probably be at least three or four months before they finally realize there is something wrong. By then, they will have no hope of finding me."

Wataru knew that even if that letter did work, that wouldn't be enough. "What about you dropping out of school? That will surely cause a problem."

"I also told the principal that I was transferring to another school. After the principal placed my transfer notice in the mailbox and left his office, I snuck back in and stole the letter. The principal will never know what I did, and he will think the letter was mailed. As far as he is concerned, I am no longer his problem." From the tone in Touma's voice you could tell that the officials in the school were as apathetic about Touma as he was to them.

Wataru continued his questioning, "What about your job? You were employed under your real name weren't you?"

Touma casually explained, "That will not be a problem either. The employee records at that restaurant are confidential, and I never socialized with anyone there besides my boss and a couple of the waitresses. I plan on quitting my job by telling them I have personal reasons for leaving. There is another restaurant that is two or three miles away from here that is looking to hire a new cook."

"How is that going?" Wataru asked with interest.

"The application I have placed at that restaurant has me listed under my new identity, and I believe my display of my cooking skills has placed the odds in my favor. I may have the worst luck when it comes to games of chance, but when it comes to cooking and training with you, my misfortune knows when to keep its distance." Touma seemed oddly confident about that.

Wataru asked, "What about your money at that bank?"

Touma responded, "I will be closing that account in a few days from now. There is another bank where I have opened an account under my new identity a couple of months ago. Both of the banks don't have an outstanding reputation, so they don't attract too much attention. They both have security cameras, but as long as I don't do anything suspicious the footage of me in those banks will be considered inconsequential. The footage will most likely be recorded over after a certain period of time."

Wataru then said, "Well I am glad to know that the fake IDs are starting to prove their worth to you."

"They have. Thanks to the fake IDs you and Komaba-san have provided for me, Kamijou Touma will be able to disappear forever. To anyone who sees me in public whether it is my new boss at the restaurant or those bankers, I will be known as Temna Ginjou." Touma then went on to say, "After I leave behind my old school and job, they will be the last true witnesses to my whereabouts and the trail will go cold from there."

Wataru inquired further, "Have you made sure that no one would be able to recognize you as I suggested?"

"Of course I have. When I went to my new bank and the new restaurant, I have been wearing that wig and fake nose you provided me. Even if there is an investigation to find me and they try using facial recognition, that will make it more difficult for them to find me. Any investigator would have to put a lot of effort into trying to find me, and I will see them coming from a mile away." It was hard to tell if Touma would have thought being investigated would be his misfortune or the fact he wouldn't want to be found was his misfortune.

Wataru was reasonably satisfied with what Touma had said, "I suppose that covers all the bases. I will come by your place in a few days, so we can officially initiate you into 'Big Spider.' Just make sure you take care of any of your remaining loose ends before then."

"Thank you sir." Touma left the room immediately.

/

A few days later, in a training facility about twenty miles away from Touma's current location, scientists were observing an especially promising Esper performing her abilities with such ease. She had the ability of an "Electomaster." Her current power was an Esper Level-4. However, the scientists seemed convinced that with some more hard work she would reach Level-5 within a year.

She had shoulder length light brown hair with a hairpin on her right side and she had brown eyes. The girl seemed to like wearing her school uniform even though she didn't have to during the training session. Apparently, it was her preference to continue wearing it. Her name was Misaka Mikoto Touma's childhood friend.

The abilities that Mikoto possessed impressed the scientists. One ability that stood out in particular was creating an iron sand sword by gathering iron sand. The weapon she created would vibrate at a speed that would increase its cutting power, so it would also be like a chain saw. Additionally, she was able to manipulate the weapon's size and shape at will, so she could also use it like a whip. After displaying a few abilities, one of the scientists spoke to her over the loudspeaker, "That is enough for now. It's time to take a lunch break." Unlike the Kiharas in general, these scientists actually cared for the Espers that were training in their facilities.

One of the scientists was named Hakaru Shinjitsu, and she had a closer relationship to Mikoto than the other scientist had with her. They would occasionally speak with each other from time to time, and they even had lunch sometimes. She approached Mikoto and said, "Hello Misaka-san that was an impressive display of power."

Mikoto smiled and returned the greeting, "Thank Hakaru-san. I couldn't have gotten this far if it weren't for scientists such as yourself."

Hakaru then said, "It is hard to believe you were only a Level-1 a few years ago. The amount of power you are able to generate now is unbelievable. There is no doubt that you will be able to attain Level-5 if you keep up the hard work."

This gave Mikoto an idea, "I do appreciate the compliment, but if you think that was impressive, I have another trick to show you."

This piqued Hakaru's curiosity, "What would that be?"

Mikoto didn't plan on giving anything away just yet. "Follow me to the target range, and I will give you a personal demonstration. This is a technique that I have been perfecting in my free time. However, I have only been able to properly generate the power to perform this attack after I reached Level-4."

Mikoto and Hakaru arrived at the target range and Mikoto told Hakaru that she was going to destroy a target that was about 35 meters away. Hakaru knew that Mikoto was getting strong, but she had yet to see any techniques from Mikoto that weren't close or mid ranged attacks. "What are you going to use?"

Mikoto pulled some arcade coins from her pocket, "I am going to use these."

Hakaru was confused by this, "How are you going to use coins?"

"I'll show you. You should stand behind me." Mikoto flipped the coin into the air. While the coin was in the air, Mikoto gathered her powers and concentrated into her right thumb before hitting the coin again. The coin was launched by her powers at an incredible rate much to Hakaru's amazement, and it destroyed the target.

That new ability Mikoto was displaying broke the sound barrier. It may have only been a small coin but the amount of power this girl put into it caused everything that was in its path to be destroyed until it smashed into the facilities wall. Luckily the coin didn't go through the wall, but it did damage it significantly. The scientist looked at Mikoto with amazement, "That was incredible Misaka-san."

Misaka smiled at the scientist, "Thank you. I have been working on it for a while now, and it looks like this is a move that I can probably rely on in the future. I believe an appropriate name for that move will be 'The Railgun.'"

This gave Hakaru an idea of her own, "Maybe that should be your Codename."

Mikoto liked the sound of that, "That sounds good. I wonder what he would think about that."

"He who?" In all the time Hakaru knew Mikoto, she never knew much about Mikoto's personal life outside the training facilities.

"Nothing. It's nothing." However, that was obviously not the truth. Mikoto couldn't help but think, _"I wonder how Touma is doing right now."_

/

While Mikoto was pondering this, Touma was continuing the process of removing himself from the normal world. He was at the restaurant, and told his boss that he needed to quit his job due to "personal reasons." In reality, Touma had succeeded in getting his new job at the other restaurant under the name Temna Ginjou. The chef tried to inquire further about Touma quitting his position, but he ultimately decided to respect Touma's wishes.

On Touma's way out of the restaurant he passed by two girls who were approximately two or three years younger than him. One had short dark hair and had a flower arrangement on her head. She seemed like a gentle girl who could never intimidate anyone even if she tried. The other girl had long dark hair that went past her shoulders and she had a flower hairpin in her hair as well. She was more upbeat and clearly more cheerful and outgoing than her counterpart. The two girls both wore the same school uniform, and based on the way they were speaking to each other, almost anyone could tell they were best friends. However, one with the long-dark hair had a strange perverted streak to her friend's dismay.

"I wish you would stop flipping my skirt up in public Saten-san," said the girl with the short dark hair. This girl was named Uiharu Kazari. She was currently an elementary school student who would later become part of the student-based disciplinary committee known as Judgment. While she lacks physical strength, her abilities with computers are top-notch; this would enable her to be a proficient hacker and information gatherer.

"Sorry Uiharu. I just need to make sure you always wear your panties," said the girl that was identified as Saten. Her full name is Saten Ruiko. She goes to the same class as Uiharu, and they became best friends with her quickly. For some reason, she likes to shamelessly flip Uiharu's skirt up even if they are in public despite Uiharu's constant protests. Saten is a cheerful girl who wishes to gain an ability of her own, and envies those who have them. She is also huge fan of internet rumors and looking up information on the "urban legends" of Academy City. In fact, there would soon be a new legend that would be born, and it would catch her interest for years until the day she would finally meet the source face-to-face.

The girl identified as Uiharu then said, "You don't have to keep 'reminding' me like that. I would never forget something like that."

Saten decided they should change the subject. "Well Uiharu how did you do on your level exam today."

"They said that I am currently a Level-1 Esper. Unfortunately, that is not much to be proud of."

"Well you did better than me. They said that I'm still a Level-0. It almost looks like I won't be getting any further than that."

"That's not true. If you continue to work hard, you should be able to gain an ability as well."

"Well then. If you are a Level-1, what is your ability then?"

Uiharu didn't respond right away. "Well, um . . ."

Saten was having fun seeing Uiharu trying to respond to her question, "Nevermind. You can tell me some other time. Anyway, I am starving. Let's just get something good to eat before we head back to our dorms."

Saten and Uiharu ordered their usual meals. While Uiharu seemed extremely pleased with what she was eating, Saten was not. While the food was good, she felt there was a lot left to be desired from her entre.

Saten decided to call over the nearby waitress. "Excuse me waitress!"

The waitress came over to them, "Yes"

Saten said without much regard for manners, "I was wondering. Why doesn't my teriaki taste the same as it usually does?"

Uiharu was shocked at her friend's rudeness. "Eh! Saten-san that is a little rude to say to the waitress."

The waitress just laughed it off. "It's not a problem. A part of the reason for that is because we hired a new cook to replace one of our other cooks who just quit today. Chances are he used to prepare that dish for you."

This caught Saten's curiosity, "Why did the other cook quit?"

The waitress explained, "He said it was due to personal reasons that he had to quit. I can't go any further into it."

Saten was comically saddened by this news, "Aw that's too bad. His cooking was so heavenly. I am really going to miss his cooking."

The waitress then said, "We are all definitely going to miss his cooking. He was really a polite person as well. I have a feeling you would have liked him if you met him. In fact, I think he passed by you when you just entered."

Uhiaru and Saten were shocked to hear this and both said, "Really?"

Uiharu said, "That boy looked like he was only a few years older than us."

Saten was as skeptical as her friend if not more so. "Someone that young can cook can really cook that well?"

However, the waitress assured them that the boy really was that skilled. "The head chef said that boy was practically a prodigy when it comes to cooking. He may have made a number of mistakes when he started, but he really was able to pick up a number of skills pretty fast."

Saten hoped she could get one last piece of information. "What was his name?"

The waitress realized she was going to be stepping into dangerous territory if she kept talking about this. "I'm sorry but I can't divulge that information. In fact, I probably shouldn't have said you just passed him either."

Saten was a little dejected from that. "Aw man. I guess I understand though. I wish I knew that name. Then I could tell him to continue making me this yummy food."

Uiharu tried to get her friend to behave a little better. "Now, now Saten-san don't be rude to the new cook's abilities."

"I get it. Don't get me wrong this food still tastes good, but it just lacks something." Saten then put another spoonful of the food into her mouth, but it wasn't as satisfied as it usually was.

The waitress just kept smiling politely, "Don't worry. I understand it will take a while to get use to a new cook's food, but please don't let it deter you from future visits."

Shortly after the waitress left, Saten couldn't help but wonder, _"I wonder what my favorite cook is doing now?"_

/

In a back alley of the Strange, Touma started a fire to burn his possessions. One by one, he threw almost everything that could be associated with him, which included his IDs, his school papers, his job applications, and even his favorite clothes that a number of people have seen him wearing. Touma was hoping that he would be able to successfully erase himself for the new life he would finally be officially beginning.

It wasn't before long that Wataru showed up as he promised and said, "I see you decided not to burn your journal or your photographs from the Child Error facility. As much as I am glad to see you haven't decided to burn away everything you own, what made you decide to keep these things? Are they reminders for your revenge?"

Touma immediately denied this accusation, "No they aren't. This is more for them than for me. I promised myself I would never let them be forgotten." Touma then picked up his journal and continued. "If I destroyed the journal or those photographs, I would be destroying some of the few items that proved they existed or that their lives mattered. I can't bring myself to do that, nor will I let anyone else do that either." His expression was becoming sadder the more he explained himself, but he knew that he had to finish. "They can't live in this world anymore physically, but I will keep their memory alive forever. I will make sure no other Espers who abuse their powers can create anymore tragedies. That was the vow I made to myself."

While Touma's explanation did make him sad, it also made Wataru smile, and he told Touma, "You passed."

Touma was confused, "What?"

Wataru tried to explain, "You passed my final test."

Unfortunately, Touma was still confused, "What test?"

"I wanted to make sure that you didn't only want to live for revenge. If you chose to go through with your revenge or not when you have your chance, it will be your choice. I won't stop you from making it. However, I can't let you simply go about your business if that is your only purpose. I know that you have said before you wanted to stop other Espers who abuse their powers, but I needed to be sure that was your commitment. I can see it in your eyes that you are serious. You are now officially a member of 'Big Spider.' Welcome aboard Temna Ginjou."

Touma gave Wataru a bow, "I won't let you down Kurozuma-san."

Before Wataru left he told Touma, "You don't need to be so formal with me anymore Touma. I think it is about time you start calling me Wataru now."

Touma was a little shocked at what Wataru was asking him, "Are you sure that wouldn't be improper sir?"

Wataru explained to Touma, "We have known each other for a long time. Since we're friends, I think it is about time you start calling me by my given name Touma."

Touma was reluctant, but he decided to compromise. "Thank you Wataru-san."

Wataru smiled, "That's a step in the right direction."

/

After finishing training and experimenting for the day, Mikoto checked out her mailbox. She saw that there was a letter for her from her friend Touma. It had been a while since she last received a letter from him. She was hoping that he was doing okay because she felt that some of his most recent letters have felt a little different. Mikoto couldn't place her finger on it, but something didn't seem right about the way Touma wrote his letters.

Mikoto read through the letter and was disappointed to read its contents. Hakaru noticed this and decided to approach her, and asked, "What's wrong Misaka-san?"

The question caught Mikoto off-guard because she wasn't paying attention to the area. When she noticed it was Hakaru, she told her, "It's nothing much. I just received a letter from an old friend of mine."

Hakaru asked, "What's your friend's name?"

Mikoto told her, "His name is Touma."

"What did the letter say?" Hakaru seemed especially interested Mikoto's friend.

"Nothing much. It just said that he has been doing fine, but there is some kind of experiment that he has to be participate in. According to him, he probably won't be able to write for a while." The look in Mikoto's eyes showed that she was saddened by this turn of events.

Hakaru sympathized with Mikoto and said, "That's a shame."

Mikoto sadly told Hakaru, "This isn't the first time it has happened either."

This bit of news also caught Hakaru's interest, "It isn't?"

"No. There were two times over the past year-and-a-half that due to some sort of 'circumstances,' he wouldn't be able to contact me for a couple of months." Mikoto stopped for a second before continuing. "However, something is different about this letter."

This caught Hakaru's interest, "What is so different about it?"

"Before he would only go into vague details about the circumstances, but this time he wrote down specifically he was volunteering for an experiment of some kind. Apparently, it involves an ability on his arm or something. I am happy to know that he will be participating in this experiment." Mikoto's voice sounded more bittersweet upon saying this. "He was never that interested in gaining an ability before, but I always hoped he would come around."

Hakaru seemed more relieved upon hearing this, "That is definitely interesting. I am sure he will write back to you after the experiment is done."

Mikoto immediately shot that thought down, "I doubt it."

This confused Hakaru. "Why would you?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he forgets to contact me like I forgot to contact him." Mikoto seemed to be completely convinced of that.

Hakaru tried to understand why Mikoto would be so pessimistic about her friend. "What do you mean?"

Mikoto explained, "I remember when I originally wanted him to come to Academy City, so he could get away from all those people in his hometown that picked on him. I wanted us to be able to spend more time together, but I got some wrapped up in the experiments and training that I completely forgot about him. It wasn't until one day that I received a letter from him that I realized I forgot to keep my promise."

Hakaru asked, "Was he ever angry with you?"

"No he wasn't." Mikoto gave a sad smile. "He also told me that he was happy about my progress, and he was able to make some new friends."

This caused Hakaru to feel that Mikoto was worried over nothing. "Well then this shouldn't be a problem either."

Now it was Mikoto's turn to be confused. "Huh?"

Hakaru explained her logic. "You may have forgotten but he didn't. After he contacted you, you two remained in contact right?"

"Yes." Mikoto's voice seemed a lot less sad than before.

"I am certain he won't forget about you." Hakaru looked at Mikoto's face and saw that she needed to help Mikoto a little more. She decided to offer Mikoto some advice. "However, even if he does forget to contact you this time, make sure you are the one that reminds him that you wish to remain in contact. If you two are able to keep up your connection, I am certain you will be able to fulfill your promise to him someday."

This gave Mikoto a lot to think about. "You are probably right. Thank you very much Hakaru-san. Good night." Mikoto left to go to her room.

"Have a good night Mikoto-san." Hakaru looked upon Mikoto with a sign of regret on her face. It would seem that she was pondering something as well.

/

_Touma found himself on a beach. He was around nine years old, and he was sitting next to a girl who was about seven years old. She was his childhood friend Misaka Mikoto back when their families went on that group vacation before he left for Academy City. The two of them were enjoying a beautiful sunset while their parents kept a watchful eye from the distance._

_Mikoto asked Touma, "Hey Touma do you want to obtain an ability?"_

_Touma wasn't sure what she was asking, "What do you mean?"_

_Mikoto explained herself, "You know an Esper ability. Like the one I have." She held up her hands and electricity started to form._

_While Touma did find Mikoto's abilities amazing, they were not his desire. "Not really."_

_Mikoto was surprised. She thought anyone would want to have an ability if they had a chance. "Why not? It's a dream come true."_

_Touma answered Mikoto, "Maybe for most, but it isn't my dream."_

_This made Mikoto curious, "Then what is your dream then."_

"_To make friends and live in a place where I will be treated like a normal person rather than a superstitious disease."_

_This gave Mikoto an idea, "Then you should still come to Academy City anyway."_

"_Why?"_

"_Academy City is a place where they make the supernatural possible. They believe in science and not superstition. It will give you the chance to make friends, and I will be there for you too."_

"_You promise?"_

"_Of course I do. Let's make a pinky promise."_

"_Okay." The promise was made that would lead to Touma's adventures in Academy City._

_Touma's thoughts kept racing throughout his time's in Academy City and the people he met._

"_My name is Sasaki Ai and his name is Yamasaki Yuudai. What's yours?"_

_Touma's days in the Child Error facility kept flashing before him. All those days of playing football with his friends, the times of exploring Academy City, the Summer Festival, being saved by Yomikawa Aiho, and the seeing the meteor show. They were all great times. The best times of his life, but they were not meant to last._

_Then all of a sudden a demonic voice could be heard everywhere around Touma, "A normal life? Pathetic! You can't live a normal life no matter how hard you try! Let me remind you!"_

_Touma's mind went back to the night of the attack on the Child Error facility. There was the scream that started it all, the other kids being killed in gruesome ways, and the three of them running for dear life. "Please! Please stop! I don't want to see this again!" It didn't stop. It went right back to that scene. Touma was pinned and Ai was sacrificing herself. "Please don't Ai! Run! Save yourself please!" Everything he said had no effect. This was a dream of the past, and it couldn't be altered. He was helpless as he saw Ai die. He was broken and useless. _

_Finally, his mind flashed forward to when he took Komaba up on his offer to become someone who can save people from their own misfortune._

_The demonic voice began talking again, "You see! Living a normal life is not meant for you! You will never be able to find peace as long as I am here. In the end, there will be no one to save you from your despair."_

/

_It was a dark day. It was pouring, and lightning could be seen in the distance. However, the roar of the thunder was not enough to phase out the sound of a boy screaming at the top of his lungs._

"_AAAAHHHHH! YOU BASTARDS! COME BACK HERE!" The voice belonged to Touma who was screaming out to number of unidentified individuals. He was deeply injured, and he was bleeding intensely. Despite that, he continued to move forward._

"_Please Touma stop! You don't have to do this! Please stop!" It was a girl who appeared to be about two years younger than Touma, and she had short brown hair._

_Touma understood that she was right, but he didn't care. "NO! I CAN'T STOP! NOT UNTIL I KILL THEM!"_

_The girl continued trying to persuade him to stop this. "What good will killing them all accomplish!"_

_Nothing she could say could quell Touma's rage. "THEY DID IT! THEY KILLED HIM! I CAN'T LET THEM GO! THEY DESERVE TO DIE!" _

_The girl then hugged Touma in an attempt to stop him from moving any further. "Please Touma you're bleeding!" the girl said while crying. "You're going to die at this rate. Come with me to the hospital. Please."_

"_NO!" While Touma couldn't bring himself to stop his actions, his injured body did it for him. He had reached his limits, and collapsed. The girl wasn't strong enough to keep Touma balanced, but she was able to help steady him so he wouldn't fall on his face. There were tears streaming down his face. He said softly, "This can't be happening." He started pounding his fists at the ground. "I can't let it end like this." The girl couldn't find the words to comfort him. "DAMN IT ALL!" His voice cried out. After screaming, he fell unconscious and was lying face down on the ground._

_The girl pushed his body, so he would be lying on his back instead. She kept calling for him, but she didn't receive a response. "Touma. Please get up. The ambulance is on its way. You can't die yet! Touma." Despite her desperate pleas to the boy, he wouldn't respond to her voice. Then the girl gave one last shriek, "TOUMA!"_

/

_The dream changed to a different sequence altogether. Touma was in a hallway of a hospital that he didn't recognize._

"_What happened to Onee-sama is all your fault." Touma found himself arguing with a girl he didn't know. She was a Middle Schooler who was about thirteen years old. Her hair was tied in twin tails, and she was wearing a hospital gown. There were two other girls in the hallway with them. One of them had short dark hair with a flower arrangement on the top of her head and the other had long dark hair and she had one flower on the side of her head. It appeared they were trying to calm down the raging eleven year old._

_With a mixture of anger and sadness in his voice he responded, "You think I don't know that Sharai? I know if I would have done something different or something earlier the outcome would have been different."_

_The girl identified as Sharai scoffed at his response. "I don't want to hear what you think would have happened hypothetically. What matters is what actually happened."_

_The girl with the arrangement of flowers in her hair told Shirai, "Shirai-san you don't have to keep blaming Kamijou-san. Besides Misaka-san, he must be suffering the worse out of everyone here."_

_Shirai was undeterred by the other girl's comment. "Good. He deserves to suffer!"_

_The girl with long hair was angered by Shirai's last statement, "Shirai-san that's enough!"_

_Shirai just ignored the protests and continued her criticisms. "All you have done is cause Onee-sama pain and trouble. You don't deserve to be by her side." The girl's voice was in such rage, she knew in her heart that she was probably going to say something she would regret, but she didn't care. "It should be you that is in that hospital bed with your memories messed up not Onee-sama."_

_Touma knew he couldn't deny that, and he was on the verge of tears. He hit his hand against wall and said, "I know! There is nothing I can do to fix it right now! The only thing I can do is try to atone for this and do what . . ."_

_Shirai interrupted Touma, "What are you going to do? Try to make it right? It's too late for that now Kamijou-san!"_

_The girl with flower arrangements in her hair knew at this rate this was going to end poorly. "Shirai-san please stop this!"_

_The long haired girl added, "Yelling at Touma isn't going to get us anywhere!"_

_Shirai chose to ignore both of them. "No! I have to say this! When I first met you Kamijou-san, I thought you were a barbarian! Then, you made me think you were a decent person." She glared at Touma as if she were looking into his soul. "Now I can see I was wrong all along! You are nothing but trash! Trash like you would be better off dead!"_

_After saying that, the entire hallway was completely quiet. The two girls were completely shocked by what they had just heard the twin tail girl say. It took a moment, but the girl with the twin tails realized she went too far. The only person whose demeanor didn't appear to be affected by what she said was the boy standing in front of them Kamijou Touma._

_Shirai seemed to regret what she said, but before she could take it back, Touma spoke up, "Your right."_

_The girl with flower arrangements in her hair said to Touma, "Wait a minute Kamijou-san! Shirai-san didn't mean to go that far."_

"_No Shirai-san is right. I don't deserve to live. I should have died years ago, and I am only alive now thanks to others. Throughout my life I have been the cause of almost all of their lives to be destroyed. Now I can add Misaka on the list." He curled his right hand into a fist, and his hand began to shake involuntarily. "I told her that I would become a hero, so I could save someone. I saved that person, but I ended up causing Misaka to pay the price. If I could do it all over, I would still save that person, but I would have done it in another way, so I would have been the person in that hospital bed."_

_The girl's didn't know what they should be more taken aback by. The fact, he agreed with Shirai's outburst or the fact he was calling Misaka Mikoto by her family name rather than by her given name or the nickname like he always called her. They realized the happy boy they had always seen him as was probably an illusion after all._

_He turned his back towards them and said. "There is something I need to do now. Something I need to do by myself. Maybe we will meet again another time." He began to walk away._

_The long haired girl tried to stop him. "Touma wait!"_

"_DON'T FOLLOW ME!" Touma shouted at the top of his lungs despite being in a hospital. "You can't come with me. This is something I need to handle on my own. That is way the it should always have been."_

_Despite Touma telling her to stop, the long-haired girl felt that she couldn't just let him walk away like this. "Please Touma don't go! Shirai-san didn't mean any of those things. She was only upset about Misaka-san."_

"_She has every right to be Saten-san." Saten understood that Touma calling her by her family name instead of her given name was his way of distancing himself from them. "Tell Misaka that I am sorry for what happened to her. If you guys ever need me, you know where to find me. Goodbye."_

/

Touma woke up from, and his body was sweating profusely. He knew that he had another nightmare, but he knew that it wasn't like the ones he has had before. The way he felt this time was similar to the one he had on the day of the attack on the Child Error facility. This gave him a chilling premonition that something terrible was going to happen. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember a single detail of the dream outside of the fact it was raining at one point and there was a lot of shouting. However, he knew better than to ignore this feeling.

After a few minutes, Touma was able to pull himself together and prepare for the day before him. He then heard a knock on his door. After he opened it, he saw that it was Konori Mii that was waiting. "Hello Konori-san. What brings you here?"

Konori Mii handed Touma a gift and said, "Happy Birthday Kamijou-san."

Touma accepted the present and said, "Thanks." He opened the present and saw that it was a football. Konori decided to get one for Touma after she had heard him mention on one occasion that he use to love playing that sport. "This is very thoughtful. Thank you so much Konori-san. Do you want to come in?"

Konori smiled and said, "Sure."

Touma asked, "Do you want anything to drink?"

The first thought that came to Konori's mind was, "Do you have any mushino milk?"

"It seems like Wataru has gotten you addicted to that drink as well huh?" Konori only responded with a soft laugh. "Don't worry. I have plenty in my refrigerator. He has gotten me addicted to this stuff as well. Milk is good for you after all."

"That is true." A thought came to Touma's head. "Did you become addicted to it because you think it will give you a boost of some kind?"

"Of course I do." Konori said affirmatively.

Touma was surprised by Konori's answer, "Really?"

She didn't quite get what Touma was referring to, "I expect it to make me get taller and stronger. That is what you should always expect from milk."

Touma was somewhat relieved that she didn't quite get his joke. It was probably for the best. "Uh . . . yeah right. That's exactly what it will do."

After Touma poured a glass for both himself and Konori, he decided it would be in his best interest to change the topic. "I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything, but how did you know that today was my birthday?"

Konori answered, "Wataru-san told me."

"I see." Before he sat down Touma decided it would be for the best to remind Konori of something. "By the way, Konori-san, I would appreciate it if you didn't call me Kamijou-san anymore. I now go by Temna Ginjou."

Konori corrected herself, "Oh right. I'm sorry Temna-san." Konori then continued what she was going to say, "He told me that you don't really like thinking about your birthday or a number of other things, but I think you should be proud of the day of your birth. You're a good person Temna-san. I understand you might be somewhat distant because you don't want to get too close to people, but everyone needs someone. Wataru has helped me just like he and Komaba helped you."

"Is that so? I see." Touma was saddened to hear that.

"If you truly don't want to have a friend, that's fine. It is your choice. However, you should give me a chance to be your friend. I know we may have only met, but I am concerned for you. Whenever you talk to me about something that doesn't have anything to do with training or fighting Espers who abuse their powers, I can tell your heart isn't in the conversation." After saying that, Konori took a breath before continuing. "It is almost as if you don't wish to become close to anyone. Wataru told me that despite being with Skill-Out for nearly two years, the only people that you probably consider to be friends are him and Komaba. It doesn't have to be that way."

Touma didn't respond right away. His face made it clear that he did have something to say, but he was having trouble finding the right way of saying it. After a few moments, Touma responded, "Friendship is something I truly do desire, but it is something I am not meant to ever obtain."

Konori was shocked to hear this and asked, "Why not?"

Touma figured he needed to know what she knew before he could start explaining, "Before I answer that, how much has Kurozuma-san told you about me?"

Konori told Touma, "He didn't tell me much. The only real important thing he told me is that he and Komaba-san saved you from an Esper attack when you were eleven."

After he let out a sigh, Touma said, "That is true, but he left out important details."

"I had a feeling." Konori's face became grim because she had a feeling it wasn't pleasant.

"I don't usually like to talk about it. It is extremely painful for me."

Konori felt that this was Touma's way of saying he wasn't going to tell her a thing. "I understand Temna-san."

As it turns out, she was wrong. "However, I have decided that I am going to tell you anyway."

Konori was shocked, "Why would you do that?"

Touma's face was filled with shame while he said, "It might be selfish of me, but I know that just keeping this contained might not do me any good."

"That's true," Konori said in agreement.

Touma further explained his reasoning. "Shortly after I met you, I felt like you were someone that I could trust. You were much different than most of the other members of Skill-Out."

Konori felt she should accept that as a compliment, "Thank you."

Touma warned Konori, "This might take a while for me to explain, so do you mind giving me a couple of minutes to tell you my story."

"That is fine with me." Konori was happy that someone she wanted to be friends with was willing to open himself up to her.

Touma began to tell his story, "It all started when I first came to Academy City. I enrolled here due to a recommendation I received from a friend, and I somehow wound up living in a Child Error facility. At first I didn't want to live there, but I became friends with a number of the other kids, especially Ai and Yuudai. We became an inseparable trio for about two years. Then it happened."

Konori realized where Touma was going with this. "You mean the Esper attack Komaba and Wataru saved you from?"

"Yes. During that Esper attack, everyone of my friends that I had grown to know for those two years in the Child Error facility were killed in front of my eyes. I was right there, and there was nothing I could do. I tried to save my friend Ai, but I was completely useless." His right hand curled up into a fist. "She was raped, tortured, and murdered less than ten feet in front of me, and I couldn't stop it. I have regretted my powerlessness that day every single day of my life. However, I am not letting that stop me. I will never let them be forgotten nor will I let myself be so weak ever again."

Konori was completely shocked by this story. She believed him, but it didn't stop her from thinking how unbelievable it sounded. However, she also felt that he was unnecessarily blaming himself as well. "I understand what you are saying, but that doesn't mean it was your fault they were all killed."

"It was my fault. My friends were killed because they were my friends." This time Konori didn't know how to respond. She decided to let Touma to continue. "Those Espers that killed my friends in the Child Error facility were told specifically not to kill me, but anyone who was my friend was fair game."

"Who would order such a thing?" Konori's mind was racing, but she just couldn't find an answer.

"I don't know. However, I plan to find out, and I promise you that I will break their illusions even if it kills me." Konori looked in Touma's eyes, and she could see his determination and his need to bring those people to justice.

The room remained silent until before Konori decided to break the silence, "I'll help you."

It was Touma's turn to be shocked, "What?"

She smiled at Touma, and said, "You don't actually think you can accomplish your objective by yourself."

Touma reluctantly agreed, "Well I guess that's true."

"My reasons for joining 'Big Spider' are not nearly as deep as yours." Konori reflected on why she joined Skill-Out and what she had wanted to do with her life. "I joined because I felt I reached a hurdle that I couldn't overcome in my Esper development. You on the other hand were robbed of everything you held dear. I will help you bring those people to justice."

Touma was in awe of Konori's kindness. He never expected her to be so willing to help him. "Konori-san. Thank you."

Konori immediately said, "No problem. That's what friends are for right? We are friends now right?"

"Yes we are." Touma said it completely on reflex. He didn't think about it at all. He just accepted the idea that they were friends on the spot, and perhaps that is all Touma ever really wanted to do. This caused Konori to smile, and Touma then told her, "Whenever, we are having a private discussion like this, you can call me by my original name if you like."

Konori wasn't sure what to say except for, "I would be glad to do that Kamijou-san."

Touma decided to make a request of his own, "Would it be okay if I called you Konori-chan?"

Konori just smiled and said, "Of course it would be."

"Thank you Konori-chan." Touma's face had a legitimate smile on it rather than his usual gloomy look. Wataru's hope that Konori would help break Touma out of his shell had managed to work.

After they spent another half hour talking, Touma told her that there was something he needed to do. "I will meet you at the Skill-Out hideout later. I need to fulfill a promise I made to someone first. This is something I need to do by myself." Touma wasn't sure if she was taking offense to it or not, so he added, "You understand right?"

Konori wanted to go with him, but she understood this was a personal matter for Touma, "I understand Kamijou-san. Will you be long?"

Touma reassured Konori, "It will take me a couple of hours, but I don't think it will take longer than that. It is something that might be difficult, but I think I can handle it. See you later."

When Touma left in the other direction, Konori noticed that he was holding a strange book in his hand. She couldn't help but become curious about its contents. However, she decided that would be a topic for another day.

/

On the day after her talk with Mikoto, the scientist known as Hakaru dialed a special phone number in her office. When the other line answered, a voice of an old man said the customary, "Hello."

Hakaru nervously said, "Good morning sir. I have some news that I think you might want to know about."

The old man on the other line said with interest, "What would that be?"

Hakaru explained, "You asked me to tell you if I ever learned anything interesting about Misaka Mikoto's friend, Kamijou Touma, right?"

"That is correct." The old man seemed to have a feeling he was going to like what he was about to hear.

"She just received a letter from him. He claims that he is going to be participating in some sort of experiment. Apparently, he will not be able to contact her for some time." After Hakaru said that, she wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. She felt like she was betraying Mikoto's trust by revealing this news.

The old man simply said, "Is that so?" His voice was not surprised or shocked. It was almost as if he was expecting this.

Hakaru said with a concerned tone, "If you don't mind me asking sir, but what kind of experiment could her friend be participating in. I know that we aren't always told of the different experiments in Academy City for confidentiality purposes, but Misaka-san seemed to feel that something didn't feel right about her friend's message. Is there any reason to be concerned?"

"There is nothing to be concerned about." The old man said in a convincing tone that seemed to ease Hakaru's doubts. "It isn't unusual for scientists or their volunteers to keep silent about their experiments from others as long as it has been approved by the Board of Directors and the General Director."

Hakaru's doubts were eased, but she was still not completely comfortable. "That's true, but I don't understand why you wanted me contact you the moment I heard anything about that boy. Is he a threat of some kind?"

The words came out of his mouth smoothly that they would cause almost anyone to believe what he had to say. "There is nothing to be worried about Hakaru-san. The boy is just someone the General Director has a keen interest in. It is nothing more than that. I would suggest you continue your work with Misaka-chan. I expect to see great things from you in the future. You have proven yourself to be a worthy successor for Kiyama-kun. Keep up the good work."

That was more than enough to get Hakaru to finally go along with the old man's wishes. "Yes sir. I will continue helping with Misaka-san's development."

"Excellent." Then the old man hung up the phone.

/

The man on the other line of the phone was none other than Gensei Kihara.

His granddaughter asked, "What was that about?"

With his trademark smile Gensei happily told Therestina, "It appears that our little Touma-chan will be starting to make his move soon."

Therestina shot her grandfather a questioning look. "How do you know that?"

Gensei explained, "I hired one of the scientists who are working with the Esper development of Misaka Mikoto to contact me if she was able to learn any useful information about Touma-chan from Mikoto-chan. Based on what she told me, we can probably expect to see how Touma-chan has progressed since he ran away."

Therestina was unaware of this, "How did you know that you would be able to get such information?"

Gensei Kihara continued to casually play chess as he explained himself. "I didn't. The General Director simply informed me that Touma-chan and Mikoto-chan were childhood friends. I believed it would be wise to get someone who was close to Mikoto-chan. Touma-chan has been doing an excellent job remaining below the radar ever since the incident." Despite giving a detailed explaination, none of the moves he was making on the chessboard were wasteful. "Unless we put more effort into locating him, he could have remained out of our range for an extended period of time. However, I believed there was a good chance Touma-chan would still try to contact Mikoto-chan, and he would give her a 'hint' about his activities. It appears that my calculations were correct."

Therestina proved herself to be a worthy chess player as well. However, she lacked something her grandfather had. It was patience. "Well it was about time we received any news about that little bastard. I have been afraid that all of my efforts during his time in the Child Error facility were going to waste."

"You just need to be patient Therestina. It is almost time for the experiment to begin anew." He moved his chest piece, and claimed his victory. "Checkmate."

/

Touma arrived at the Child Error family grave. The sky above him seemed like it was about to start raining. However, it appeared the clouds were going to allow him to continue about his business without interrupting him.

"Ai. I made a promise to you almost four years ago, and I intend to keep it. I will read every entry that I have written in my journal." Touma flipped to the start of the book. "Here we go. This is where our story began. 'It has been one month since I arrived at Academy City. My best and only friend Misaka Mikoto . . .'"

Touma would continue reading for almost two hours. He would continue to visit the graves of his Child Error friends on a semi-regular basis in order to fulfill his promise to Ai. It's a promise that would take years to complete.

The story of the "Devil's birth" has come to a conclusion, but this is far from the true end. The legend of the Devil of Academy City has only begun.

/

**Omake**

Everyone is gathered around, and Touma is at the center stage. He is about to make a big announcement.

Touma: Congratulations everyone! We have succeeded in completing the first side story! (He raises his glass up) Kampai!

Everyone in the crowd: Kampai!

Touma: There is a little announcement the author wants everyone to be aware of. We will be taking a temporary break from producing any further side stories for my time in the "Big Spider." He has decided that we will produce at least two "breather" side stories.

_General reaction of the crowd is somewhat mixed._

Touma: This story has become somewhat depressing for some of our readers, especially after the third chapter. Before we get any further into that, the author plans to lighten the mood a little first while still producing some interesting background information thanks to some of the information that Stormwoflex-san told him and has allowed him to utilize in these side stories. In the meantime, everyone else involved in the "Big Spider" storyline please rest up until you are needed again.

_The general reaction of the crowd is more positive after hearing that._

Wataru: Well I guess there is no arguing with that. (He turns and leaves) Just let me know when I am needed again.

Komaba: See you later.

Konori: See you soon Kamijou-san.

_Everyone else leaves the room, and the only ones left are Mikoto and Touma._

Mikoto: It was about time I got some screen time, but did the author really have to make the fans wait until the last chapter of this story. Not to mention, I doubt fans would really be satisfied with my appearance.

Touma: Unfortunately, Mikoto as much as I would have wanted you to appear a little more, it just wasn't meant to be for this story.

Mikoto: I get it already, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

Saten (her voice is coming from the distance off-screen): Well at least you got mentioned a lot during the story.

Saten, Uiharu and Kuroko enter.

Saten: Unlike you we only got the screen time that was given to us in this chapter and that was it. There were no other references about us throughout the story nor were we were given any solid plot relevance. The only thing we got to do was being the first casualties of not getting to eat Touma's cooking at one of the restaurants he used to work at and appear in Touma's premonition.

Touma: Sorry guys. I know you hate that your screen time was limited, but I hope you understand why it was limited as well as why no one really could reference you.

Saten: Yeah I know. It really wouldn't work out for the story nor would it make any sense to appear in any scenes with you or Misaka since we aren't suppose to officially meet until long after this.

Uiharu: Do you know if the author plans on giving us any scenes in future side stories?

Touma: As a matter of fact yes, but your screen time will still be limited though.

Uiharu: I see.

Touma: However, the author does have at least one side story planned for you and Ruiko.

Saten and Uiharu: Really?!

Touma: Definitely.

Kuroko: What about me?

Touma: The author does plan on giving a few scenes in a number of future side stories, including one that goes into more detail about you and Biribiri meeting in this story.

Kuroko: I will get to have some screen time with Onee-sama?

Touma: No promises yet since it is in the planning stages. However, all things considered, I think it will be a yes.

Kuroko: Spending more time with Onee-sama. This is a wonderful day. (Kuroko is practically dancing with joy, but then stops when she realizes something doesn't seem quite right) Will I get a side story where I am the main star as well?

Touma: Not really.

Kuroko: What? But why?

Touma: I am sorry to have to tell you this, but the author really doesn't like you.

Kuroko: What? You have got to be kidding me!

Touma: Not in the least.

Kuroko: (Kuroko's world crumbles and she falls to the ground. She starts muttering) But I'm suppose to be important too.

Touma: Don't worry. The author doesn't completely hate you. He still plans on giving you screen time. It probably won't be the amount you're hoping for though.

Kuroko: Onee-sama please help your kouhei.

Mikoto: I'm sorry Kuroko, but even I can't do anything to change the author's mind.

Touma: (Turns around to face the audience) Well that does it for this particular side story, but there is more to come. See you later.

Saten, Uiharu, Mikoto, and Touma wave farewell to the audience while Kuroko is still passed out on the ground.

**Omake End**

/

**Disclaimer**: Needless to say, I am not the owner of "Toaru Majutsu no Index" or "A Certain Scientific Railgun." Those are the properties of Kamachi Kazuma, J.C. Staff, Seven Seas Entertainment, and Funimation.

**Author Notes**: I was partly inspired to work on this side story due to how much I enjoyed the "Turn Back the Pendulum" story from Bleach. It was a long flashback arc, but it was enjoyable. It was great how it explained or at least touched upon a number of different characters back stories, and it gave characters who hadn't appeared in a while some much needed screen time. It was also funny how it answered a few of the minor questions in the series as well, such as Shūhei Hisagi's tattoo. Since Stormwolfex-san confirmed a number of details regarding his story to me, such as the fact Touma did work at a restaurant, why Touma was considered to be part of the "deceased list," and he knows how to use a gun, I figured I would incorporate those elements into the story as well.

Believe it or not, ending the story in this fashion was my intention from the moment I wrote the journal scene in the first chapter. However, it was somewhat difficult to figure out how to get there, but the ideas and inspiration kept coming to me one by one. The fight and death scenes in the third chapter were primarily influenced by both Bleach and the Final Destination series. There are a number of other ideas I had for this particular story as well. However, I decided not to include them since this was meant to be the "Birth of the Devil." The ideas I still had would go much further than the "Devil's" birth, so I figured the final graveyard scene was the perfect cutoff point. As a result, I have decided to incorporate those ideas into a completely new storyline.

Now that this side story has been complete, it is almost time to take this fanfiction series to the next level. Certain questions you might have about Touma's time in Big Spider will finally be answered. I have already begun planning that storyline, but do not expect it to be published for a while. As of this moment, I do not expect to start releasing that storyline until either late Spring or early Summer, and I cannot be more specific.

It has come to my attention some of you want me to write about Mikoto and Touma's confrontation that originally happens in Chapter 6 of the main story. As of this moment, I plan on doing that, and I have it partly mapped out. I have pitched the idea to Stormwolfex, but he hasn't answered my message yet. Of course, if Stormwolfex decides to change his mind regarding certain issues of the "Big Spider" arc, I will abide by his wishes. I will even go as far to edit/retool anything he desires.

The first thing I wish to do is publish a couple of "breather episodes." I plan on using them to partly fill in some of the back story of certain characters we have yet to be introduced in the main story, but they have been mentioned on a couple of occasions. These "breather episodes" will also serve another purpose as well. I asked Stormwolfex a number of questions on these particular characters in his universe, and he has allowed me to write a side story for them. I hope you will enjoy it.

Additionally, I would appreciate any and all reviews you can give me. Seeing people review my story really brightens my day.


	6. Story II: Formation of the Friendship I

**Author Notes**: It is the one year anniversary of the original launch for the main story "Of Science and Magics." As most of you probably know from April 2011 to September 2011, Stormwolfex produced fourteen chapters of the main story, and it has become the most highly reviewed Index fanfiction story yet for very good reasons. Unfortunately, Stormwolfex hasn't been able to update the main story for sometime due to various circumstances. For those of you, who may not have read the original story, be sure to check it out. You can find it by either looking through my favorites or scrolling down the general story choices. It is truly an excellent read and be sure to encourage Stormwolfex that we would all like to see the main story revived.

On another note, I have noticed that the official TVTropes page for "Of Science and Magics" has received a few updates. It does please me to see that happened, but I think there is definitely a lot more that can be done. I am not a troper yet, but I do plan on becoming one later. However, despite that, I would appreciate it if there are any readers who are already tropers who could help expand that page further. There are quite a few "tear jerker" and "heartwarming" scenes that could be added as well as some possible expansions for the YMMV portion (especially for certain things, such as "Complete Monster" and "Moral Event Horizon.")

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Story Two: Formation of the Friendship

Part I – Families and Meeting

/

I did not belong

Anywhere in this whole world

But you changed all that

/

Long before Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto met, their mothers Shiina and Misuzu met each other during their high school years. They were truly inseparable almost to the point one would assume they were sisters. The two of them would go shopping, exercise in the gym, attend the beauty salon, and they even went to the same college. They even made sure that they would dorm together.

While they did almost everything together, their most incredible feature was that they seemed to possess an ability to maintain their extremely young appearance despite how many years went by. Anyone who knew them during high school or college would say that neither one of them appeared to age at all. There was a rumor that the two of them apparently stopped aging during their late teens. Additionally, there were rumors the two of them participated in something called the _"250 years method."_ It was a program that was apparently being completed in Academy City as a means to stop the aging process and significantly increase the subject's life. While the rumor seemed plausible, it was unlikely to be true due to neither of the two "reportedly" stepping foot into Academy City or one of its affiliates prior to the birth of their children.

Despite how close they were, even their friendship was not immune to conflicts. One of the most notorious ones involved a mutual crush. While they attended college, they became interested in the same guy, and they quickly became rivals to win the man's affections. However, they eventually realized it would be stupid and regrettable to ruin their friendship over a crush. Luckily for them, they were eventually able to find different men who would become the loves of their lives.

Shiina would marry a man named Kamijou Touya and Misuzu married Misaka Tabikake. The two friends managed to arrange things, so they would be able to get married on the same day at the same venue. They were able to alternate between being the brides and the maids of honor. Despite how many things that could have gone wrong, the entire event went surprisingly well. Even after their marriages, Shiina and Misuzu were able to continue their lifelong friendship without any problems. This was partially because their husbands were extremely busy men who would find themselves abroad due to their occupations.

Touya is a businessman who has to travel to a number of different destinations throughout the world, such as India and Guam. Apparently, his main job is to prevent others from purchasing shares of the company he works for in order to stop possible hostile takeovers. His job requires extensive knowledge of the economy and human psychology, but he has proven himself to be more than capable of handling his responsibilities. Unlike Touya, there was less known information regarding Tabikake occupation. Apparently his responsibility is to "find flaws in the world and then correct them." Despite the lack of information, Tabikake is a man with numerous connections and is extremely wealthy.

Their husbands became friends by association, but they eventually became legitimate friends as time went on. There would be times when they would share a drink at the local bar and talk about their different experiences or how their married life was progressing. However, Misaka had a tendency to overdo it in the drinking department, and it would usually lead to Touya needing to carrying Tabikake back home. Shiina and Misuzu found those scenes between their husbands to be more amusing than embarrassing.

There were also times when the four of them would get together and go on group trips. One of the most notable ones happened approximately, a year and a half before the birth of Kamijou Touma. The Kamijou's and the Misaka's took a brief trip to Oowarai Beach. Unlike how it would be in the future, the beach was pristine and full of activity. Touya made sure to remember the beach house they were staying at was called Wadatsumi. It was a great place that was definitely worth coming to again in the future. Their hot springs were especially enjoyable.

/

During their brief stay at the beach they were approached by a local couple. They stood at approximately the same height with the man only being about three or four inches taller. Both of them had brown hair with the man's hair being short and his wife's hair was tied into a pony tail. The man had brown eyes while the wife's eyes were blue. The man's face had a rough look since it appeared he was trying to grow facial hair with mixed results while the woman's face was smooth. It could be assumed the man was in his early thirties and the woman was probably in her late twenties. The last distinguishing fact was the woman was visibly pregnant.

The unknown man enthusiastically said to the group, "Greetings."

Touya decided to return the favor, "Hello."

The man didn't waste any time speaking and continued, "I take it that you are visitors here. My wife and I live here, and we pride ourselves on knowing almost everyone in the area."

While Touya wasn't sure of what to make of this man, Touya decided it wouldn't be right to simply ignore him. "That's right. My wife and I along with our friends decided to spend two days at the beach since we had some free time."

With his enthusiastic grin, the man said, "Then I welcome you to Oowarai Beach. It is a fabulous place, and I hope you enjoy your stay."

Touya found this man's enthusiasm to be a little too much, but Touya could tell that he meant well. "Thank you very much."

The man decided it was time to begin the formalities. "Allow me to introduce ourselves. My name is Sasaki Hideo, and this is my wife Tomiko."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kamjou Touya." He then motioned to the other members of his party. "This is my wife Shiina, and those two are our friends Tabikake and Misuzu Misaka."

Tomiko said, "The pleasure is all ours. We always enjoy meeting new people at the beach. It is a hobby of ours." She smiled cheerfully, but then something caused her to have a reaction of some kind, and she rubbed her stomach. "Oh I think she's kicking."

Hideo sheepishly scratched his head. "Oh yes I almost forgot. This little rascal," Hideo pointed to his wife's belly, "will be our beautiful daughter. We are expecting her to be born very soon."

While not surprised, Shiina said, "That's wonderful. Do you have any names picked out?"

"We do. We decided that we will name her Ai because she was a product of our love."

Misuzu said, "That is a lovely name. I am sure your daughter is going to love it."

"Thank you. We are very proud. At first, we were afraid that we might not have enough money, but thanks to my current employment, and the projects I am working on, we have nothing to fear. I am doing everything and anything to ensure the projects run smoothly."

It was Tabikake's turn to speak, "That makes me pleased to hear that. It's always important for the parents, especially the father, to be as responsible as you are."

The group's conversation with the Sasaki family continued on for a few hours. Despite Touya's initial uneasiness about the Sasaki family, he saw that they might have been a little over enthusiastic, but they were decent people. Touya couldn't help but feel that something felt a little off about the situation, but he decided to let that go for the time being.

/

Approximately a year and a half later during the winter, the Kamijiou family was blessed with their own little one as well. His name was Kamijou Touma. While Touya and Shiina would always consider themselves to be blessed by Touma's birth, there would be plenty of others who would not share their sentiment. About two years after Touma's birth, the Misaka family was blessed with a little girl of their own whom they would name Mikoto. Shortly after their birth, their mothers began to discuss the possibility of their children's future as friends and possibly arranging a marriage between their kids much to their husband's unease.

"I am sure that Mikoto-chan and Touma-chan will become fast friends. Who knows maybe they will eventually become lovers when they become older." Misuzu's imagination seemed to be completely unstoppable at that moment. "I can see it now. The two of them building up their friendship as time goes on. Eventually, they will hold hands when they become teenagers and realize they want more than just friendship thanks to the red string of fate. Somewhere down the road they decide it is finally time to become husband and wife have a family of their own and live out their lives happily."

While her imagination wasn't as creative as her friends, Shiina had no problem agreeing with her. "I could see that happening. Touma-san and Mikoto-san joining hands in holy matrimony. Perhaps we should arrange things that way."

This caused Misuzu's face to light up even brighter. "That's a good idea. It would give our families an even stronger connection than they have already."

"Very true. I feel excited at the prospect." While Shiina's voice was somewhat monotone, anyone who knew her could tell she was excited.

While the wives were extremely enthusiastic in their "visions of the future," their husbands were not as eager. They did think that it would be good for Touma and Mikoto to become friends when they got older, but thinking fifteen to twenty years in the future was not something they wanted to do at the moment.

Tabikake seemed to be feeling the most uneasy on the subject. "They are really thinking way too far ahead don't you think."

While Touya agreed with Tabikake, he also could see it happening. "Agreed. Obviously I can appreciate the fact that they want our children to get along when they are older, I think expecting them to get married when they are still toddlers seems a little much."

"Well if anything even remotely like what our wives imagine comes true, I suppose it isn't our place to say otherwise."

"True."

It became a mutual agreement between the two men that they would not get involved in their wives' 'imaginations/plans' for their children's romantic future. However, they were able to convince them that it would be better if they didn't make an arranged marriage because they wanted them to be able to find true love. It would be better if they fell in love in a more natural way.

/

The years went by quickly. Due to Touya and Tabikake frequently being absent due to business trips, and Shiina and Misuzu raising their respective children, the group wasn't able to get together as frequently as before. It was a common example of how having a family can really change one's life, but they didn't mind it too much. Despite their busy schedules, they were able to remain in contact with each other, and whenever they did meet up, they never felt like strangers. However, during that time, their two children had yet to have their first official meeting.

The first true meeting between the two children did not happen until Touma was eight and Mikoto was six. While they had met a few times when they were toddlers, those meetings didn't count as they couldn't remember them. Their parents originally planned on having Touma and Mikoto meet about one year earlier, but plans changed. Mikoto's father received a call from Academy City regarding a special opportunity for Mikoto's future.

Apparently, thanks to a blood sample, scientists determined that Mikoto had the potential of becoming an Esper. While it was true that Academy City offered anyone a chance to becoming an Esper, there were times when they would offer opportunities to the people directly. After making some negotiations with scientists, both Tabikake and Misuzu consented to allowing their daughter to participate in the Esper training program. Mikoto herself was excited at the prospect of becoming an Esper. Despite being so young, even she knew about Academy City and some of the wonders the place had to offer.

Academy City was a place located in Japan that was known for making Espers, people with supernatural powers, possible through scientific means. The technology Academy City possessed was exclusive to the city, and its affiliates. Apparently their technology was 30 years ahead of the rest of the world. Some of it was used for the specific purpose of tapping into a person's hidden potential, and plenty of its technology was used for other purposes, such as developing weapons, robots, and curing diseases. However, the fact Academy City was capable of granting people supernatural powers seemed to dwarf all of its other accomplishments.

When people's latent Esper powers were awakened, most people agreed that it was a dream come true. Some Espers reportedly have the ability to teleport, some the ability to control certain elements of nature, and others apparently had powers that go far beyond normal people's imagination. Referring to Academy City as a "city of adventure" would be an understatement.

The population within Academy City was apparently close to reaching two million residents, and it was continuously rising. A vast majority of the city was populated by students pursuing the possibility of unlocking their latent powers or some other kind of career objective. Most of the people who lived in Academy City were of Japanese descent, but it wasn't unheard of for some foreigners to live there as well. Additionally, true to its name, there are numerous schools throughout the entire city. In addition to Esper related criteria, the schools also taught a number of typical subjects too, such as history, math, and language, so parents of the students wouldn't need to worry about their children's education.

However, there did seem to be a drawback to some of these people gaining these great powers. There were reports that sometimes whenever a student would visit his or her hometown, they would be ostracized by their community. They would be considered "freaks" by the "normal" population, and it was difficult for some students to be able to live outside of Academy City.

Despite that, it didn't deter most of the students from seeking out the ability to gain Esper powers. Academy City was seen as a once in a lifetime opportunity to unlock doors that were never possible before, and most Espers felt they didn't need to be accepted by people who refused to understand. As a result, it wasn't unusual for some students to take up a permanent residence in Academy City and seek a way of life within the city after finishing their schooling. Besides, most people would consider the city to be a paradise, and they would think it would be foolish to leave.

However, Mikoto's father was not the only one interested in having their child enroll in Academy City. While the thought of unlocking ones hidden potential did interest Touma's father, there was one specific detail that caught his attention. It was the fact the city was apparently "deprived of superstition." Unfortunately for Kamijou Touya, his son Touma had been apparently "cursed with misfortune." It seemed regardless of where Touma went or interacted with, disaster was not far behind.

There was one incident in particular that stood out in his mind. It was probably the most significant event that has led up to his son's current predicament, and Touya regrets the role he inadvertently played in it. About a year or so earlier, Touma had already gained a reputation of being a jinx, but it wasn't anything too major. If anything most of the people were willing to pass it off as a joke. Unfortunately, that all changed drastically.

Touya introduced Touma to a local business owner. He seemed like a reasonable person to speak with, and the man was very polite to his son. Touma was well behaved and didn't speak outside his turn, and Touma merely shook the man's hand. As fate would have it, the business man went bankrupt shortly after. Little did Touya know, the business man was extremely superstitious, and he was looking for anyone or anything to blame. When the man found out Touma had a notable unlucky streak, he blamed all of his problems on Touma, and he decided to chase Touma around the neighborhood one day with a knife. Touya was able to save his son's life, but everything went from bad to worse for his son.

Unfortunately for Touma, a TV program had heard of the business man's attack on Touma, and they decided to produce a show on Touma. If that wasn't bad enough, the TV program publicly released pictures of Touma without receiving Touya or Shiina's permission. Thanks to this program, Touma's misfortune went from being a joke to becoming the "plague." Anyone who saw him would either hurt him or ignore his existence. It became hard for Touma to decide what hurt more. Was it worse for people to acknowledge your existence but beat you up for it, or was it worse for people to consider you something worth ignoring completely?

In the end, the answer didn't matter because Touma was alone either way. The boy was only eight years old, and he was already largely considered a menace to society. There was no one he could be friends with, and he had no place where he belonged. The only friend Touma probably had was his cousin, Tatsugami Otohime, but even that wasn't enough.

Shiina told Touya it wasn't his fault, but Touya couldn't bring himself to agree. In his mind, he played a role in Touma's current status, and there was no denying that. Touya wanted to protect Touma, but due to his job he couldn't always be there for him. He knew that Shiina was doing the best she could as well, but even that wasn't enough. He decided to make it his life's mission to put an end to Touma's misfortune. Regardless of where he went, he would collect at least one item that was meant to bring good luck to the people around it or at the very least reduce their misfortunes. Unfortunately, these items did little good, but that didn't stop Touya from trying.

Eventually, he considered the idea of enrolling Touma in Academy City the following year, but he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. On one hand, he would be sending Touma into Academy City on his own. Due to Academy City's regulations, it was rather unusual for the parents to be able to live in Academy City as well, and Touma would have to live by himself in the dorms and rely on the money that would be provided for him. However, if Academy City really was free of "superstition," this could give Touma a fresh start and allow him to finally make friends, and he would not be treated like the "plague." Touma would be free of all the abuse he received in their neighborhood.

When he spoke to Shiina about this, she agreed that Academy City seemed like the right choice for Touma's well being, but she also thought they should know more about Academy City before they make such a huge decision. This made Touya realize that he should talk to Tabikake about this. Since he enrolled his daughter into Academy City, he must think very highly of the place or at least think it is promising.

Shortly after, Touya was able to talk to Tabikake personally about this matter. "So you want to enroll Touma into Academy City huh? I can't say that I blame you considering everything he has been going through lately."

"Yes. I was hoping that I could talk to you about Academy City a little more before I fill out the application."

Tabikake was surprised at what his friend had just said. "I never thought you would ask me for advice. Go ahead and ask."

"Is Academy City truly free from all superstitious beliefs as I have heard? I don't want to send Touma to a place where they are likely to condemn him like they would here."

"You heard correctly. Academy City primarily focuses on science. There is very little mentioned that can't be explained logically. However, similar to most places, there are apparently some urban legends regarding Esper related subjects, but they are more in the realm of theories and realism rather than superstition."

"I see. In that case, does your daughter Mikoto like it there. How are things progressing for her?"

"I received a call from her yesterday. She is having a great time there. Apparently, she has already awakened her Esper powers."

"That fast? What are her powers?"

"She didn't say. She said she would show me when she returns next week."

"So Mikoto-chan is finally coming back home? That's great news. Maybe she can talk to Touma about Academy City and see if he would be interested in going. It's about time our two kids finally had their first real meeting anyway."

"I suppose your right. This would be like killing two birds with one stone. Our kids will finally be introduced to each other, and she can tell Touma all about her experiences in Academy City. After she is done talking, I bet he will be the one begging you to send him there."

"I can only hope. The last thing I want to do is send Touma somewhere against his will."

/

Two days prior to Touma's first meeting with Mikoto, he went to the nearby park with his mother for a change of scenery. Unfortunately, while not too many words were spoken, Touma could tell from the looks he received from some of the adults and their kids, they didn't want anything to do with him. Shiina offered to play with Touma. While Touma was grateful to his mother, it still saddened him that there was no one his age who wanted to play with him.

Touma noticed that there were some kids playing football on the field. He had never been able to play football before because no one would let him join their teams. However, he always thought it looked fun based on the way the other kids were so enthusiastic at moving around and kicking the ball. It was probably the best game he has yet to play.

While Touma was lost in thought, he approached by a young boy. The boy greeted Touma with a simple, "Hello."

This shocked Touma. While he was happy that someone close to his age was actually giving him a friendly greeting, it was one of the first times he ever received one. He almost forgot to return the greeting, but thankfully he didn't, "Uh . . . hello."

"My name is Kumakichi. What is your name?"

"My name is Touma."

"I noticed that you were by yourself, so I was wondering if you would come play with me."

Upon hearing the words _"play with me,"_ it made Touma's world brighten quite a bit. However, he didn't want to be rude to his mother, so he turned to her, and she gave him a nod of approval to go ahead. "I would love to." As Touma followed Kumakichi to the playground, he noticed there was a strange man smoking a cigarette near-by, but he decided to ignore him and focus on having fun.

Seeing Touma play with another child warmed Shiina's heart. Hopefully, this moment could lead to her son's first friendship with someone outside of his family. Unfortunately, not far from where they were, there was a car parked on a hill that was suddenly making strange noises. It definitely sounded ominous.

After playing for a couple of minutes Kumakichi asked Touma, "Are you an only child?"

"Yeah I am. Are you an only child too?"

"Nope. I have a much older brother. He is going to be seventeen years only in a few months from now."

"Really? What's he like?"

"He is so cool. He is going to be the new head of the family, but he has some big shoes to fill. My father is a really super smart guy, but I think my brother can do it, and I think my father has faith in him too. In fact, my father has already given him the family heirloom."

"Family heirloom? What's that?"

"It's this really cool knife that has been in my family for generations. You should see it."

Touma realized he forgot to ask one important detail, "By the way, what's your older brother's name?"

"His name is . . ."

However, before the boy could finish his sentence, Touma heard his mother scream, "TOUMA!"

Touma then noticed a car was moving right towards them. Touma quickly said to Kumakichi, "That can wait, we need to get out of here." Both Touma and Kumakichi made a run for it. Unfortunately, while Touma was able to get out of the way, Kumakichi was not so lucky. He tripped, and the car was heading straight for him. However, a woman, Kumakichi's mother, managed to arrive just in time and shield her son from most of the impact.

Touma ran back to the site and shouted, "Are you okay Kumakichi?"

Kumakichi said weakly, "Yes I am alright, but I think my mom needs help." His mother was unconscious but still breathing.

"I'll go get some." Touma ran back to mom to get some help for Kumakichi.

"Don't worry mom everything is going to be all right." No sooner had Kumakichi said that, he noticed there was a strange smell in the air. However, he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

Touma ran towards his mom saying, "Mom they need help. Call an ambulance."

Shiina assured her son, "Don't worry Touma-san. I already have. They will be arriving any moment now."

"Oh thank God. That is such a relief." After he said that, he heard an explosion behind him. The car that had hit Kumakichi and his mother had blown up, and it had engulfed them too. There was absolutely no reason for that to happen. How could it have happened? The impact from the car should have given Kumakichi and his mother nothing more than a few minor injuries. However, it just exploded and killed them. There seemed to be no logical explanation for this. As a result everyone's gauze turned to one eight-year old Kamijou Touma to blame for this tragedy.

/

A police investigation would determined that the stabilizers of the car's broke. The owner of the car was perplexed by how it could have happened since his car received a tune up a couple of weeks ago and everything was working perfectly. It was also concluded that there was a gas leak in the car, and something must have caused it to ignite, but they were unable to determine the exact cause.

Unfortunately, despite all the professional evidence to indicate possible rational and scientific explanations, it wasn't enough to stop people from blaming the disaster on Touma's existence. It seemed likely that Touma's very existence would be labeled as a crime by the people.

/

After hearing the news, Misuru immediately gave her friend Shiina a call. "I just heard the news. Is Touma-chan okay?"

Shiina grimly replied, "Only in one sense of the word."

"You don't mean."

"Unfortunately, yes. He blames himself for the accident. I have done everything I can to convince him that it wasn't his fault, but he refuses to listen to me."

"That's too bad. He doesn't deserve this."

"I know. I have done everything I can, but nothing has worked."

"Not everything. Let's not forget that Mikoto-chan will be coming home soon, and I am certain that she can help your son."

"You still are okay with Mikoto-san and Touma-san meeting?"

"Of course I am. You're my friend, and I know your son is a good boy. Sometimes it takes one success to turn someone's luck around, and I would be happy to play a role in such a success, and I am sure Mikoto-chan will feel the same."

Shiina began to cry a little bit upon hearing this, "Thank you."

"What are friends for?"

The stage was set for Mikoto and Touma's first meeting.

/

Two days later, Touya and Touma went to a different park on the other side of town. Mizuru, Shiina, and Mikoto would be joining them shortly. Tabikake unfortunately wouldn't be able to make it due to some business that he needed to attend to. Touma was not aware of what was about to take place. He had only been told that there would be a "good" surprise for him at the park. Touya really had to emphasize the "good" part in order to get Touma to come along. Touma was feeling apprehensive about going to another park merely two days after the accident, but his father was successful in convincing him.

Misuru and Shiina considered having Touma and Mikoto meet at their house, but Tabikake ironically managed to convince them that having them meet at a park would be more fun and memorable. He would certainly be correct about the memorable part. Unknown to Touma and Touya, there was someone following them from the moment they left their home.

Shortly after Touma and Touya arrived, Touma decided to go to the playground. His father was keeping a watchful eye on his son until someone approached. The man who started talking to him seemed friendly enough, and they engaged in a pleasant conversation. However, that distraction was more than enough to give someone the opportunity to approach Touma without Touya noticing.

Touma felt there was someone approaching. As soon as he turned around, there was a man who was about twice his size. He had dark hair and the look in his eyes scared Touma. This man appeared to be someone who was pushed to the brink and had almost nowhere else to go. He then grabbed Touma's neck and began to shake him violently.

"Give me back my wife and son! Give them back!"

Touma struggled to say, ". . . What?"

"My son was only six years old and now he is dead because of you. My wife was the love of my life, and she is dead. They both are gone, and I will never see them again all because of you."

Touma immediately realized who this man was. He must be Kumakichi's father. Tears started to form in Touma's eyes and he said the only thing he could say, "I'm sorry."

The man only became more hysterical. "As if sorry is going to do anything. It's all your fault," the man cried out hoarsely. Touma could see the pain in this man's eyes, and he wished he could cure the man of his pain even if it meant giving his own life. The man then said, "You're a jinx! A jinx like you shouldn't exist!" He then threw Touma to the ground and whipped out a knife with the full intention of stabbing the boy.

Touma was only eight years old, and yet here he was looking at death straight in the face. His father noticed what was going on and began running with all his might, but he was going to arrive too late. The man held up his knife and started to swing it down. He was aiming to impale Touma straight in his heart. Touma accepted the fact that he was about to die.

/

While this was happening, Misaka Mikoto, Misaka Misuru, and Kamijou Shiina were walking causually to the destination.

As they were walking, Shiina decided to ask Mikoto a question, "So Mikoto-san, how was your time in Academy City?"

The little girl energentically said, "It was wonderful. All the scientists are really nice and thanks to them I have been able to unlock my hidden powers. They feel incredible."

Shiina then said, "It sounds like you will have a lot to say to Touma-san when we get to the park."

"Who is this Touma-san?"

"Don't you remember Mikoto-chan? He is the boy that we talked about on the phone earlier this week. You met each other a couple of times as infants, but you wouldn't remember that. So this will be your first real meeting."

"Is he nice?"

"Yes he is very nice. I am sure you will get along well."

"I hope so . . .," for some reason Mikoto stopped when they were just outside the park. "Oh no!" Mikoto then went running inside park for some reason.

Misuru and Shiina were confused by Mikoto's behavior, but then they noticed someone was violently shaking Touma and then threw him to the ground. They then said out loud, "STOP!"

This caught Touya's attention and he noticed that his son was on the ground and a man was standing over him who proceeded to take a knife out. "NO!" Touya then started running with all his might, but he realized that at this rate, we would be too late.

/

This whole situation left Kamijou Touma in shock and despair as he waited for his death. However, right before the man could deliver the blow, Touma's salvation came in the form of a six year old girl. She had selflessly charged and tackled the man despite her small stature and lack of strength. Touma was surprised to see someone other than his mother and father coming to his rescue.

Seeing that the girl was not about to let go of him, the man was about the pry her off him. Unfortunately for him, he was about to deal with the powers of an Esper first hand. The girl narrowed her eyes and concentrated with all her might. Electricity flared from her body and gave the man the shock of his life. She didn't stop until the man collapsed to the ground. He tried to get back up, but Touya pinned him to the ground while Shiina called the police to report the incident.

Touma was amazed by what he had just witnessed. He had never witnessed anyone display that kind of power before in his life.

"Let me go! I have to kill him!" The man was becoming more and more hysterical. As the man was being pinned by Touya until the police could arrive, his voice could be heard throughout the park. "My name is Chokichi, and this boy is the reason for my actions. If we let him live more people are going to end up dead! He is already caused the death of my wife and youngest son. Don't be fooled by his appearance! He is just a monster in the body of a little boy! He needs to die!"

People's reactions to what the man was saying were mixed. Some felt that the man was going too far and a few others seemed to agree with what the man was saying. When Touma heard the man's words, they were the straw that broke the camel's back. Tears began to roll down his face as he began to cry. He was always trying to avoid being a jinx and make friends. He wanted to be normal and to live a happy life, but now it had become apparent that it would never come true.

The brown haired girl had enough of the man's ranting, "You don't blame people for your troubles! If you hurt people, then you're the monster, not him!" After she said that, the man finally shut up. It was unknown whether it was because a little girl had managed to point out the flaw in his logic or he just wanted to avoid receiving another dose of shock therapy. Shortly afterwards, the police arrived, and he left without putting up any further resistance.

After the man was taken away, the little girl noticed the boy was still crying. She walked to the crying boy and offered him her hand. The boy noticed this and looked up at his salvation. She told him, "I was really scared you know," she winked, even as her lips trembled slightly, "So smile for me, ok?"

This girl risked her life to save his. Up until now, he never believed anyone other than his parents would be willing to do something like that. "Y-yeah…" he sniffed as he reached out and took her hand.

They smiled at each other then, a sweet smile that warmed the hearts of the people around them.

"My name is Kamijou Touma. Thank you so much for saving me."

"You're welcome. I couldn't let something like that happen. It wouldn't have been right." After thinking about it for a moment, Mikoto realized something. "Wait a minute did you say your name was Touma?"

"Yes."

"You're the person I came here to meet."

"What do you mean?"

"My name is Misaka Mikoto. I am the daughter of a friend of your mom. We were on our way to meet you."

The realization finally dawned on Touma. "Oh I see now. You were the surprise my parents were talking about. I guess some surprises are good after all."

Mikoto giggled at what Touma said, "I guess they are."

The two of them laughed for a little bit. Touma couldn't remember the last time he was able to laugh so genuinely aside from the events of his previous birthday party.

After exchanging a laugh and talking to each other a little longer, Touma struggled to think of what to say. He wasn't sure if she would be his friend or not. After he finally collected his thoughts, he asked, "So does that mean we're friends now?"

Without a moment's hesitation she answered, "Silly. Of course we are."

This was the beginning of an innocent childhood friendship that would eventually become much more than that. The obstacles and tasks that would lie before them in the future would put them to the test. However, over the next year their friendship would continue to strengthen without either of them worrying about where the future would take them. Their friendship would become the most important thing in their lives or at least this version of their lives.

/

**Omake**

Mikoto: (_you can see stars in her eyes_) I was hoping a story like this would be written.

Touma: What do you mean?

Mikoto: Finally, a side story where I am one of the major characters.

Touma: Is that all you care about?

Mikoto: Not really. It's just that I didn't get any screentime until the fifth chapter of this fanfiction despite getting mentioned a lot.

Touma: That is more than what can be said for almost virtually every other character though.

Mikoto: My situation is different from theirs. I am listed as being one of the main characters of this story. Most of those characters don't have a single story dedicated to them. I am just glad that I am not being shelved like the other characters were last time.

Touma: Biribiri

Mikoto: Now it is time for me to take center stage.

Touma: (_whispering to himself_) Enjoy it while you can.

Mikoto: You say something.

Touma: You just gave me an idea.

Mikoto: What would that be?

Touma: This. (_Touma turns to the viewers_) Hey any interested readers! We need more variety in the Index fanfiction world. We need more characters and potential pairings to get some spotlight such as, Itsuwa, Tsuimakdo, Wataru, Kanzaki, Saten, Hamazura, Takitsubo, Stiyl, and Index. Anyone interested in writing such fanfiction stories?

Mikoto: But Index is the title character of the franchise.

Touma: Not enough people are interested in making a story for her. Even the author would rather see more stories involving other characters, such as Itsuwa, rather than Index.

Mikoto: Ouch.

Touma: Exactly.

Mikoto: While I understand what you are doing, do you honestly think that will work?

Touma: Well it is better than doing nothing and hope someone else happens to think that way.

Mikoto: (_she ponders this for a moment and then nods her head_) True.

**Omake End**

/

**Author Notes**:

As you probably figured, Kumakichi and his father Chokichi were characters that appeared in Stormwolfex's original story, but similar to Ai and Ketsuiki's gang, they didn't have a name. I decided to settle on Kumakichi since its meaning was "fortunate bear" due to the irony of the whole situation. I gave the father the name Chokichi because it's meaning was "long-lasting good luck" since his life was always on the lucky streak until his son met Kamijou Touma.

Additionally, both Mizuru and Shiima are shippers for Touma and Mikoto, but Touya and Tabikake are not really into that idea, at least not yet. Stormwolfex told me this information during Fall 2011, and he gave me permission to write a side story based on this idea. He also told me he didn't plan on going into too much detail about Mikoto and Touma's childhood outside of what he had already briefly shown before, so he gave me the okay to provide more detail on their families as long as there weren't any continuity errors.

The following two chapters for this side story are nearly completed, and they will be available for reading in the subsequent weeks. However, I only wish for there to be at least five new reviews for every chapter I post. Even anonymous reviews can be posted as well, so that shouldn't be an issue either.

I am still hoping to begin releasing the sequel side story for "Birth of the Devil" sometime during July or August at the latest. There are no guarantees, but that is what I am aiming for. I have a number of plans written up regarding the upcoming side stories, but it still takes a while to transition them to paper. It's currently my plan to release Side Story 3 and 4 back-to-back during the Summer and Fall, but even that is subject to change.


	7. Story II: Formation of the Friendship II

**Author Notes**: The next chapter of friendship origin story has arrived. As you know from the previous chapter, this story is meant to establish the background for Mikoto, Touma, and their families as well as have continuity nods with previous chapters and the main story.

Personally, I prefer character backgrounds to be more established rather than solely relying on "descriptions" or extremely brief flashbacks. That is part of the reason why I enjoyed the "Turn Back the Pendulum" story from Bleach. Not to mention, I think it is important to establish certain facts that will help the story for narrative purposes. I hoped the readers felt the same, and I am glad that most of you have enjoyed the story so far.

It also appears that someone has made an additional edit to the "Of Science and Magics" TVTropes page. Apparently, one of the lines that Stormwolfex used in Chapter 6 was a "Shout-Out" to a Fate/stay night and Sekirei crossover fanfiction story called "In Flight." That was something I never would have thought of. If anyone is interested in adding more edits to the TVTropes page, I would appreciate that. It would be great to see the "Of Science and Magics" page expanded upon.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Story Two: Formation of the Bond – Part II

Time of Innocence

/

Friends can change our lives

Friendship can be wonderful

It can ease the pain

/

Childhood should always be defined as a time of innocence. It is suppose to be a person's blissful years of ignorance of what the world is truly like. While Touma had obviously learned quite a bit of the world's ugliness, the true event that would fully rob him of his innocence had yet to come. Thanks to his encounter with Misaka Mikoto, his one and only friend, he was able to retain his innocence a little longer and remain a cheerful child.

Misaka Mikoto and Kamijou Touma were inseparable. They bonded after a few weeks. If you did not know when they had met, you would have believed they knew each other their entire lives. Touma's time with Mikoto had been some of the most precious memories of his life, and they had been etched into his mind. Unlike any of Touma's previous attempts to make friends, this one was finally able to stick. There were no tragic outcomes and life was normal.

However, there were a few close calls, such as when a tool fell from a great height and nearly hit Mikoto on the head. Thanks to her powers she was able to avoid any disaster. Due to her electrical power, she was able to sense people and objects entering her 'electric field,' so it would be difficult to take her by surprise. However, Mikoto told Touma they should keep such incidents to themselves, so not to worry their parents. Touma was unsure of whether it was the right thing to do, but he didn't want to risk losing his only friend, so he went along with it.

Despite his friendship with Mikoto, his poor luck continued, but it was not nearly as bad as it was before. No one else had went bankrupt nor died in a bizarre accident. Following the incident at the park with Chokichi, the feelings of hostility the townspeople exhibited towards Touma were somewhat reduced. Some of them realized that they were probably going too far with their treatment towards the boy. Unfortunately, a majority of the townspeople still thought of him as the "plague" and wanted nothing to do with him. While Touma found this treatment uncomfortable, he was glad he at least didn't need to worry about people trying to beat him up or kill him.

/

A few weeks later, the bullying towards Touma came to a complete halt after another incident happened on the playground. It all started when Touma and Mikoto were on the see-saw. They were laughing and having a good time without a care in the world. Unfortunately for the bullies that were too stupid to keep their distance, they decided to approach the pair.

The three of them were ten to eleven years old, and they were at least a head taller than Touma. They had a notorious reputation, and Touma had experienced their constant bullying for over a year. When Touma noticed them approaching, he started to tremble.

The 'leader' of the group said to Touma, "So you have decided to show up here again huh?" He cracked his knuckles and said, "We warned you about what would happen if you come back here."

Touma didn't want any trouble so he said to Mikoto, "Let's go Mikoto."

However, Mikoto rejected that, "Are you kidding? I am not going to let them get away with this. This is a public playground and no one has the right to kick us out, especially not these losers."

The leader said, "You want some of this little girl?"

However, his more level-headed henchman said, "Are you sure this is a good idea Eita? She managed to take down a grown man with her powers a couple of weeks ago. What chance do we have?"

The more irrational henchman said, "Butt out of this Akihiko."

Eita said, "Hansuke is right we don't need you for this."

Akihiko gave himself a face palm and said, "You two are idiots," and he backed away.

Hansuke then said, "That girl is just a freak anyway. She doesn't stand a chance."

However, hearing the word freak was enough to push Mikoto's buttons. "You calling me a freak, ugly? Let's see who is a freak after this."

A few seconds later, Eita and Hansuke were on the ground with smoke emitting from their bodies.

Akihiko approached his two friends and said, "I told you this was a bad idea."

The only response he heard from his friends were, "We . . . are not . . . going . . . to forget . . . this."

Touma grabbed Mikoto's arm and began walking quickly away from the scene and said, "Thanks Mikoto, but they seem to be well-done. I hope you didn't overdo it."

Mikoto causally explained, "It was a slight shock. Their minds are probably exaggerating the amount that I shocked them. It's called hypochondriasis when a person has an inaccurate perception of their body's condition despite it not really being the case. In this example, they feel they are unable to move when in reality, they should be fine."

Touma looked completely dumbfounded by his friend's explanation. "You certainly know a lot. Are you sure you're younger than me?"

Mikoto proudly stated, "The scientists have trained me to understand a lot about my powers, so I understand the amount of potential damage I can do based on the amount I use. They also taught me a lot of scientific terminology. I think my ability to understand things better might be due to my powers since I was more capable of learning by example." Mikoto then pointed to her head before continuing, "Plus, the electricity my body emits probably helps stimulate my brain, so it is capable of processing information more effectively than most people."

Touma scratched his head and said, "Man that makes me feel a little jealous. You're probably smarter than I will be in five years."

Mikoto non-chantely responded, "It's possible, but everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, animals really don't like me, but they seem to like you."

That comment reminded Touma of some of his more unpleasant experiences with animals. "That's because they always think I am going to feed them. I would rather them leave me alone. Those strays always follow me and give me that begging look. I'm pretty certain that's bad luck."

Mikoto shot back at Touma, "Well if that's 'bad luck,' I want it. I like my powers, but I hate how they make it almost impossible for me to have a pet." Mikoto further emphasized her point, "When I was in Academy City, I noticed this hungry cat. Every time I tried to feed him, he would always run away from me. I never meant him any harm, but it couldn't stand my presence. I had to ask one of the scientists to feed the cat for me. I could see the smile on the scientist's face when he feed the cat. When I saw that, I was jealous of him. I just wished it could have been me feeding the cat."

Touma realized that the topic of animals was a very sensitive one for Mikoto. "I'm sorry."

Mikoto accepted the apology immediately, "It's okay. I just find it frustrating. Although I guess it's true that you have to give up something to gain something else."

Touma decided that it would be better to change the subject. "By the way, your powers produce a strange noise whenever you activate them. Have you ever noticed that?"

Mikoto completely forgot what they were previously talking about upon hearing that. "I never really thought about that. I am so use to activating my powers it never sounded strange at all. I guess I'm too use to hearing them."

After hearing that, Touma acted as if he had an epiphany. "I know. How about I give you a nickname? How does 'Biribiri' sound?"

While it was a good gesture, it only confused Mikoto, "What? Why?"

Touma explained, "Because that is what your powers sound like whenever you use them. Besides coming up with a nickname for your friend is a good idea."

Despite her brain's ability to process information more effectively, she could not think of how to respond, "Uh well . . . I um"

Touma was confused by his friend's reaction. He thought she would be excited about getting a nickname, "What you don't like it?"

With an embarrassed look on her face, Mikoto said, "I didn't say that. It's just that . . . I um."

Deciding to take her lack of rejection as an acceptance Touma said, "Well it's decided then. From now on, your nickname is Biribiri."

"Wait a minute." Unfortunately, despite anything Mikoto could say, the new nickname was set.

Word spread quickly among the kids in the town Touma had an electrical bodyguard that went by the name 'Biribiri.' As a result, there were no more bullies who would dare to approach Touma, and Mikoto received the nickname 'Biribiri' to her chagrin. In time, she grew more comfortable with the nickname.

/

Prior to Touma's departure to Academy City, Touma had many other fond experiences Mikoto. During the Golden Week vacation, Touma and Mikoto's familes went on a camping trip to Miyajima Island. Camping in the area was reasonably cheap, so the Misaka and Kamijou families were able to spend a couple of days there. Mikoto and Mitsuru stayed in one tent, Touya and Takakake stayed in another, and Shinna and Touma were in the third tent.

For the most part, the camping trip went smoothly except for a minor incident with some of the local deer. While Miyajima is a superb place to camp, the primary flaw was the greedy deer. At one point, one of them tried to enter Touma and Shiina's tent, but Touya was able to stop it before any damage was done.

Since much of their food had been eaten by the deer, Touya suggested they try to catch some fish. Touma and Mikoto volunteered for the task. Despite Touma's usual bad luck, he appeared to be better at fishing than Mikoto. Touma managed to catch three fish while Mikoto had yet to have one bite.

Mikoto said to Touma with a sarcastic tone, "I thought you were supposed to be the unlucky one."

"I guess since fishing requires more than just luck, I guess things were able to work out in my favor this time. You just need to be patient."

Unfortunately, patience was not always one of Mikoto's virtues. She put her fishing pole down and electricity started forming from Mikoto's hands. She stared at the water with a scary face and said, "All right you fish it's time to get serious!"

Touma was getting nervous about the situation. He then said, "Um Biribiri? What are you doing? I hope you're not going to do anything stupid."

Mikoto said, "I am going to be giving these fish a little shock therapy."

Touma then got up and tried to restrain her, "Please stop Biribiri! That might cause a lot of problems instead of solving them if you just use your electrical powers in the water." The struggle caused Mikoto and Touma to fall into the water.

After they got out of the water, Mikoto and Touma laughed about how stupid the whole situation was. However, Touma noticed that something was tugging at Mikoto's pole. He said, "Mikoto look. You have a bite." Touma and Mikoto worked together, and they were able to catch a really big fish. Finally dinner was served.

During their second night at Miyajima, Mikoto told Touma there was something that he needed to see. After bringing him to the shore, she said, "We're here."

Touma looked around the area, but he did not see anything special, "What did you want to show me?"

Mikoto pointed up to the sky and said, "Look up silly."

Touma looked up and said, "Wow."

"It's beautiful right? Like nothing you ever seen?" Mikoto knew she did not need to ask those questions based on Touma's reaction, but she still wanted to hear his answer.

"Yes it is." Above him was by far the greatest number of stars he had ever seen in his entire life. While Touma had seen plenty of stars before, this was the first time he was able to see so many of them at once. Seeing all of the constellations was a sight to behold. Touma thought to himself, _"I wish that moments like this could last forever." _

Mikoto spoke with a blush on her face, "I remember when I saw this with papa last year before I went to Academy City. It was unforgettable. I wanted you to see this too. It wouldn't have seemed right if you never had a chance to see this. That was why I convinced him to take us here on this camping trip."

At first Touma did not know what to say, but it made him happy that Mikoto went out of her way to show him this. With a smile he said, "Thank you Biribiri. I promise you that I will never forget this."

Mikoto said in turn, "Neither will I." Then Mikoto's voice became even more excited, "Touma look up there! It's a shooting star! Quick make a wish!"

Touma's wish was, _"I wish to remain friends with Mikoto forever and to make new ones in the future."_ It was a wish that Touma would remember for the rest of his life.

/

Sometime after Touma and Mikoto's first meeting their families decided to go on a group vacation to Okinawa. They would be staying at a beautiful resort right by the beach. It would be a place that would further change the lives of these individuals forever.

After they arrived at the hotel, the receptionist gave each of them a gift. It was an accessory that had a small frog attached to it. Mikoto's first thought was, _"It's so cute."_ She then discretely asked one of the hotel staff, "Excuse me, but what is this little frog."

The staff lady politely responded, "It's a frog mascot called Gekota. This week we are having a special where we give all of our guests Gekota related accessories."

Mikoto was curious to find out more, "Would I be able to find it in other places as well?"

The staff lady said, "You certainly can. It is a popular mascot. It isn't too unusual for other places to give similar Gekota accessories away as prizes as well."

Mikoto enthusiastically said, "Thank you very much."

The staff lady said with a smile, "It was my pleasure."

After speaking with the worker, Touma surprised Mikoto when he said, "Hey Mikoto what are you doing?"

Mikoto said in a panicky voice, "I am not asking about this frog if that is what you are asking?"

Touma said in a deadpanned tone, "I wasn't." He then said in a sly voice, "I was going to say that our rooms are ready and do you want to see them, but now I think I just learned something new about you."

Clearly embarrassed by what just happened, Mikoto said, "No you didn't," and she walked away quickly toward their families.

Touma then sighed and thought to myself, _"Why is it whenever you see something that you like or think is cute, you always feel like you need to keep it a secret? You need to be more honest with yourself. After all, you are the worst secret keeper ever." _Touma took a look outside at the beautiful weather, and he thought, _"Things certainly seem to be looking up. Hopefully it stays that way."_

/

_Touma was in some sort of city, but it was completely unfamiliar to him. The area seemed like a place where gangs and thugs would hang out. It was an extremely dark night with very few streetlights in the area. However, he was able to notice there were two figures standing in front of him. Due to the lighting he could not tell what they looked like, and it appeared like they were ready to dual each other._

_One of the figures had a distinctly masculine voice, "Why have you come here Railgun? This isn't the place for someone like you. Shouldn't you be in one of your fancy secret training facilities that many other Espers would be lucky to even see?" While Touma could tell the voice was masculine, it was distorted, so he wouldn't be able to identify whose voice it was._

_The other figure ignored that comment and spoke with a feminine voice, "Are you the one they refer to as the Devil?" Similar to the male, her voice was distorted as well._

"_That is the name the people on those forum boards have decided to call me." With a rather bored tone, he asked, "I suppose that means that you are here to fight me as well?"_

_With determination in her voice she said, "Yes. I will defeat you and put an end to your legend. For the sake of all those you have killed, including Kamijou Touma."_

_Hearing someone say that name surprised the male, but all he said in response was, "Come and try. I have already fought against many Espers including some Level 5s. You will be another name to add to the list. From what I have heard, your promotion to Level 5 was relatively recent." The male decided to give the girl one last warning, "Do you honestly believe you stand a chance against me? If you want to back down, I suggest you do it right now girl. This will be the only chance I offer you."_

"_You think that scares me. Besides you don't even know what I am capable of? The only people who know are a select few." The male didn't say respond. What she said was the truth. While it was announced that a new Esper had reached Level 5, there was no other information regarding the individual other than the name 'Railgun.' The male seemed interested in finding out firsthand why such a name was given to such a little girl. However, he seemed to have an idea of what her powers were based on some of her earlier actions. "I don't know what their reasons for fighting you were, but I know mine, and I know that will give me enough of a drive to defeat you."_

_That didn't appear to phase the male figure at all. "Well in that case, this is going to suck for you. Come at me with everything you got because I won't be holding back either." He curled his right hand into a fist, "You have seriously injured my subordinates, and I can't just let that go, but I won't take your life. I will simply beat you until you lose all motivation to fight me again."_

_The girl made a sarcastic remark. "Wow such brave words. You are really going to beat a pre-teen girl?"_

_The male brushed off this statement with a counterargument, "In this world, age and gender doesn't matter. What matters is the individual's power and how he or she decides to use it? As your judge and jury, I have deemed this to be a fine punishment. Just be thankful it will not be anything more."_

_The girl was not frightened by the man. "That's fine then. For what you have done, I am going to make sure you go down for good."_

_The two looked at each other waiting for the other to make the first move. Prior to the beginning of the fight, the male wanted to conduct one last formality. "Before we begin, my name is Ginjou. What's your real name girl?" It appeared he was trying to remember something, but it wasn't coming to him.  
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_However, the girl wanted nothing to do with the formalities. "It doesn't matter. You already know that I am the Railgun, and that should be good enough. I say we put an end to the formalities and get right to business."_

"_Tch. How discourteous of you. Although, I suppose you are hardly the first. Very well! Let's begin!" Then the battle between the two of them began._

_As Touma saw them fighting he couldn't help but wonder, "How am I able to tell what they are feeling? Is it because this is a dream or is this much more than that? What is going on here?"_

However, Touma would not get an answer to his question for some time.

/

"Touma wake up." Touma opened his eyes and saw that Mikoto was right next to him. Mikoto looked concerned for her friend, "Are you okay Touma? You looked like you were having a bad dream."

After taking a few seconds to wake up he said, "Was I?," but he then assured Mikoto, "Sorry for worrying you, but I am alright now."

Mikoto was not entirely convinced, "Are you sure?"

Touma decided it would be for the best if they changed the subject, "Yeah. It couldn't have been too important because I can't remember a thing about the dream. Let's forget about it and have fun. The beach isn't going to come to us, so let's get moving."

Mikoto nodded in agreement, "All right."

/

It was a beautiful day. The sun was out there was not a cloud in the sky and the air was sweet and warm. Touma and Mikoto spent the entire day playing on the beach. Touma was wearing a blue bathing suit while Mikoto was wearing a pink one-piece suit. Their first project of the day was to build a sand castle.

The sand castle was sturdy. They managed to make four strong walls to encompass the main structure. The main castle was about three feet tall, and it was balanced almost perfectly. You would think it would never fall unless someone kicked it down. For good measure, Touma and Mikoto dug a moat around the walls in case of any waves. The entire project from the first grain of sand to the last bit they dug out of the moat took them about two hours, but they didn't care. They were too busy having fun to worry about anything else.

Touma said, "Well I think it's done."

Misuru approached the two of them and said, "That looks wonderful Touma-san and Mikoto-chan." Misuru then used her camera to take a picture of Touma and Mikoto's masterpiece. "That will make a lovely memory."

Mikoto then said, "I sure hope this thing holds up."

Touma then said with uncharacteristic confidence, "There is nothing that can take our castle down." However, as luck would have it a big wave was forming.

Mikoto then said to Touma, "Touma look out behind you."

Touma saw a huge wave approaching. Both Touma and Mikoto got out of the way in time, but their castle was completely obliterated. Touma dejectedly said, "Me and my big mouth."

Mikoto then gave Touma a pat on the back and said, "There, there. At least we managed to complete it and my mama managed to take a picture to prove it."

This seemed to cheer Touma up a little, "Yeah that's right. You want to dig a big hole?"

Mikoto enthusiastically said, "Yeah."

/

After playing on the beach for a number of hours, Touma and Mikoto sat down on the sand to watch the beautiful Okinawan sunset. It almost seemed like they were looking at a piece of artwork that was on display in a museum. It was still pretty hot outside, but the breeze was enough to comfort them, and the sound of the waves was soothing to their ears.

After sitting quietly for a while Touma said, "It is truly a wonderful sight."

Yes it is, and the breeze feels so nice."

"This is so different from home."

"It sure is. Well isn't that the point of going to different places. If everything was the same, then there would be no new experiences and everything would be stale."

"That's true. I wish moments like this could last forever, but then life wouldn't be fun at all either if everything remained the same."

Mikoto nodded in agreement, "Hmm."

Touma then stood up and looked up at the sky and said, "I owe it all to you Mikoto."

Mikoto was confused by what Touma was getting at and said, "Huh?"

Touma turned to Mikoto and told her, "It's thanks to you that I am able to enjoy experiences like this. Before I met you, I would have been too sad and miserable to appreciate this sun set regardless of what my parents' did. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, but I needed someone closer to my age to be my friend. That is why I am always going to be grateful to you Biribiri. Despite how bad my luck is, I feel like I am the luckiest person in the world to have a friend like you."

This stunned Mikoto, "Touma. I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything. Let's just continue to watch the sunset." After he said that, he sat down next to her again.

Touma acted and spoke more maturely than a normal eight year-old. It was possibly due to being friendless for most of his life. However, his childhood innocence was still intact at this time, and it was all thanks to Mikoto.

After watching the sunset a little longer, Mikoto decided to ask Touma a question that had been on her mind for a while, "Hey Touma do you want to obtain an ability?"

Touma wasn't sure what she was asking, "What do you mean?"

Mikoto explained herself, "You know an Esper ability. Like the one I have." She held up her hands and electricity started to form.

While Touma did find Mikoto's abilities amazing, they were not his desire. "Not really."

Mikoto was surprised. She thought anyone would want to have an ability if they had a chance. "Why not? It's a dream come true."

Touma answered Mikoto, "Maybe for most, but it isn't my dream."

This made Mikoto curious, "Then what is your dream then."

Touma sighed and said, "To make friends and live in a place where I will be treated like a normal person rather than a superstitious disease."

Mikoto thought to herself, _"Well that makes sense,"_ but it also gave Mikoto an idea, "Then you should still come to Academy City anyway."

Touma was confused by this, "Why?"

Mikoto enthusiastically gave Touma her reason, "Academy City is a place where they make the supernatural possible. They believe in science and not superstition. It will give you the chance to make friends, and I will be there for you too."

This made Touma feel hopeful about his future, "You promise?"

Mikoto nodded, "Of course I do. Let's make a pinky promise."

"Okay." The promise was made that would lead to Touma's adventures in Academy City.

/

In the distance their parents were watching.

"Well look at what we have here. I see some familiar faces." The Kamijous and Misakas turned around and noticed some familiar faces approaching them. However, they couldn't place where they had met. "Hello Kamijous and Misakas' remember us. We are the Sasakis. We met about ten years ago at Oowari Beach."

After racking their brains for a few moments, the realization finally dawned on them. Touya then said, "Ah yes. I remember now. You were that enthusiastic couple that went around greeting newcomers at the beach."

Sasaki Hideo said, "That's right."

Tabikake then said, "How did you remember us?"

Hideo pointed to his head before responding, "I pride myself on my good memory. As long as people don't change their appearance too much, I can identify them without a problem. In your wives' cases, they don't appear to have aged a day since we last met."

Misuru said, "You are too kind."

Shiina also responded, "I see. That is quite an impressive talent you have."

Tomiko then remarked about her husband's ability, "It does have its uses. I suppose you are here on another group vacation."

"Yes. We are here with our own children." Touya motioned to Touma and Mikoto sitting on the beach."

"That's wonderful that you have kids. Allow us to introduce our son Norio." Hideo then motioned the little sleeping baby that was in the carriage. He was probably about one, and he had a little patch of brown hair."

Touya also remembered that Tomiko had been pregnant the last time they met. He couldn't remember the name, but he distinctly remembered them saying, the baby was going to be a girl. He did not know if this was rude or not, but he decided to ask anyway. "I remember you saying you had a daughter on the way. Where is she?"

A look of sadness fell upon both of their faces, and he shamefully said, "We lost her?"

This caught everyone by surprise, but only Mizuru responded, "What happened?"

With a grim look on his face, Hideo said, "It is extremely painful for us to talk about. Many things happened that led to certain incidents and many unforgivable mistakes were made. If I could go back in time and warn myself, I would do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, that is not reality. All I can do is atone for what happened."

Tomiko then added, "We are hoping that our son will be our second chance to do things right. We will never let what happened to our daughter happen to our son too."

Shiina said, "I am very sorry for your loss."

With a tear in her eye, Tomiko then said, "I'm sorry too."

The topic of the conversation was eventually able to change to something more pleasant, and the families were able to end their day on positive note.

/

As Tabikake predicted, Touma ended up being the one that begged his father to send him to Academy City. Touya was curious to know what brought about his son's interest in Academy City. While it was clear that Mikoto probably said something to him, he wanted to know a more specific reason. "What brought about this interest in Academy City all of a sudden Touma? Do you wish to gain powers like Mikoto-chan?"

Touma immediately said, "Not at all. Mikoto told me that Academy City could be my chance to live in a place where I am not treated so horribly, and I can finally make some friends. I can't make any here, so going to Academy City seems like my only option."

"Hmm. I see." Touya was both happy and sad that his son had come to the same conclusion that both he and Shinna had already come to. He then signed the paperwork to get Touma enrolled in Academy City, so he could start attending school in April.

/

The news that Touma would be leaving for Academy City had spread throughout the town. A majority of the townspeople seemed overjoyed at the news. They were happy to finally be rid of the "plague" for good. While it did hurt Touma that so many people were happy about his departure he chose to ignore it and carry on. He believed he would be going to a much better place that would give him opportunities for his future. A place he would never have to worry about being ostracized, and he could make friends. While he certainly did not expect to become the luckiest person in town, he believed that his luck would at least start turning around.

Prior to her own departure for Academy City, Mikoto had one last conversation with Touma in the outside world. "Hey Touma do you think you will miss your neighborhood?"

"If you mean for anything besides, my home and my parents, there really isn't anything I will miss." He then paused for a moment to think before saying something else, "However, there is one exception."

Mikoto asked curiously, "What is that?"

Touma said, "I will miss the park where you and I first met. Meeting you has really helped turn my life around, and I will hold that place close to me." Hearing Touma say that made Mikoto feel happy. Knowing that someone cared that much about her made her look forward to their future.

/

The time of Touma's departure came extremely fast. However, before it was time to go their separate ways, Touya had one last thing he needed to give his son. "Touma there is something I would like you to have."

Touma curiously asked, "What is it?"

Touya pulled out a book from his bag. "This is a journal I want you to keep."

Touma was grateful to receive a present, but he wasn't sure what to do with it. He was unfamiliar with the concept of what a journal was. "Thank you, but what do I do with it."

Touya laughed a little at his son's cluelessness, "You write things down it. They can be about the things you did, the people you have met, or how you are feeling. Memories are an important part of ourselves because they help shape who we are. However, we can't always maintain a perfect memory. To compensate for that, people sometimes write in their journals. I want you to make many great memories that you would want to write about Touma. That way if there is ever a point in your life you are feeling down, that journal will be able to help you."

Touma then hugged his father and said, "Thank you father. I will always take care of it, and I will never lose it."

Touya then patted his son on the back, "Be sure to keep that promise. I am counting on you."

Shortly afterward, Touma parted ways from his parents and would begin his days living in Academy City. Unfortunately, that would be one of the last times Touya would ever see the face of Touma's innocence.

/

A man is going through records in an office in Academy City. If you saw him from behind, you would assume he was a scientist with his long white lab coat. However, if you saw him from the front, you would think otherwise. His appearance resembled a typical Japanese delinquent more than a scientist with his short blond hair and the tattoo on the left side of his face. The man's name was Kihara Amata the son of Kihara Gensei and a relative to Therestina Kihara Lifeline. After inspecting the records, he came across something that caught his interest and made a phone call.

"Kihara here. Kamijou Touma has enrolled in Academy City as you predicted Aleister."

Aleister, also known as the General Director of Academy City, responded, "It was inevitable that the boy would come to the city. Has your father completed the task I assigned him?"

"Yes. The old man has already arranged it, so he will be living in one Child Error facilities that is under our control due to a 'computer error.'"

Although hardly surprised, he seemed amused that things were progressing, "Then it shall all come to fruition."

"Isn't there something you haven't counted on?"

"Not likely."

Amata was still skeptical, "You sure? Based on what I saw, it seemed more like you were lucky in getting this Kamijou brat to come to this city."

"From my calculations, it seemed inevitable that the boy would either find himself in Academy City or he would die. I decided to take measures to ensure the former came true."

"Pffh. I know quite a few of the measures that were taken since I happily helped perform several of them myself, but none of them seemed like guarantees to me."

With his usual calculating tone, Aleister explained, "As you know, I cannot completely control the will of others. However, that does not stop me from finding loopholes in their free will. It is a simple matter for me to manipulate and coerce people to move in the directions I wish for them to. Exploiting some of their so-called virtues is an easy task as well."

This intrigued Amata, "Which virtue did you exploit?"

"The one people refer to as 'friendship.'"

Amata realized what Aleister was talking about, and he grinned at what Aliestar had accomplished, "Are you saying the brat becoming friends with that Esper Misaka Mikoto was part of your plan? How did you know you could use her?"

"Similar to human's freewill, I cannot simply imbue them with power, but I am capable of finding their potential and helping them awaken it. I knew what her usefulness would be from the moment I found out she had the capability of becoming a Level 5 Esper. By having her enrolled in Academy City, not only would I gain one additional piece for my plans, but she would help me obtain another."

The way Aleister was capable of such manipulations was almost scary to Amata, "How did you know her family wouldn't object to her becoming an Esper?"

"No father, especially her father, is capable of letting opportunities for their child's future, such as the one I presented, from slipping through their fingers."

Amata chuckled a little, "Very well then. I should have expected no less than from you Aleister."

"Your task in this project is done for now."

Feeling uncertain if his father could handle this, Amata asked, "Are you sure you want to leave the brat in that old man's care?"

Aleister causally said, "Your 'methods' for training the boy are unnecessary. Unlike your current subject, this boy knows he has others worrying about him."

"Well that problem can be easily remedied Aleister. After all, it wouldn't be the first time we used such a solution."

Aleister quickly turned that solution down, "It would be a miscalculation to use that method."

Amata was visibly annoyed by that comment, "Tch. Really?"

Aleister then said in his usual matter-of-fact tone, "I have calculated that removing the boy's parents from the equation will not yield any results at this point. In fact, it would be to our benefit if they remain alive. Gensei knows what needs to be done."

If Amata had not made it clear to Aleister that he was annoyed that his father was favored over himself for this experiment, his tone made it abundantly clear now, "After coming this far in your new experiment, it seems you wish to remove me from it quickly."

"You have tasks of your own you need to complete, and they can only be completed by you." Amata didn't say anything because he knew he couldn't really argue with the General Director at that point. "Speaking of which, it has come to my understanding that you have been making progress with your current subject.

"He is still a chump, but he finally got his hands dirty. It won't be too long before he realizes how much he will enjoy killing. After I am done with him, he will consider taking human life to be the same as squashing cockroaches just as it should be."

Aleister made himself clear, "Be sure to control him. However, I trust you have taken the necessary measures."

Amata brushed off Aleister's concern, "Yeah yeah. Everything is under control. I have also obtained samples of his DNA as well for plan Zero-Beta."

"I entrust that you will take good care of that until the other machines are ready. I would suggest you take additional samples from time to time before you are through with him. I expect favorable results in the near future. Do not disappoint me."

With that Amata's conversation with Aleister drew to a close. After hanging up his phone, Amata began laughing, "It truly is amazing Aleister. Here you are. A man of science that is capable of making such exact calculations and measurements, but here you are practically at the level of a god. What else are you capable of? I am very interested in knowing." Amata took one final look at Touma's profile before grinning. "Well then brat or rather 'Imagine Breaker.' I hope you are ready because your life is about to become a living hell."

/

**Omake**

Instead of Mikoto and Touma appearing in their usual places, they are replaced by Hamazura and Accelerator.

Accelerator: Why the hell am I here?

Hamazura: Because this is the only way the author can give us any screen time outside of a passing mention or an unspoken cameo like you had during Chapter 2.

Accelerator: That damn author! I am going to kill him!

Hamazura: (Getting extremely nervous) Please don't that. The author only wishes to follow Stormwolfex-san's wishes. It's not his fault.

Accelerator: (Still pissed off) Tch! Fine.

Hamazura: You do realize you're his third favorite character, right? He really would like to think of something for you, but he just can't right now.

Accelerator: Third favorite?

Hamazura: That's right. Touma and Mikoto are his top two.

Accelerator: Who comes after me?

Hamazura: That would be the character Itswua, and please don't ask for anymore. We have a job to do here.

Accelerator: Fine. What are we suppose to do?

Hamazura: In this omake we are going to tell the audience what some of the other characters have been doing ever since the author put them on hiatus after the fifth chapter.

_A television screen appears in the background, and it displays what some of the other characters are doing in their free time._

Hamazura: It appears that Wataru and Konori have been busy training, and Komaba has been preparing new anti-Esper measures. None of that is too surprising.

Accelerator: From the looks of things it appears the Kihara family has been busy too. Therestina and Kensei have been playing chess as well as setting up new experiments that will likely endanger their test subjects' lives. This is business as usual for the Kihara family.

Hamazura: How can you say all that with a straight face?!

Accelerator: The Kihara with the tattooed face put me through hell when he was training me to control my powers which is part of the reason I am the way I became when I first appeared in the canon series. Half of a story arc is partially dedicated to me trying to rip him the shreds for a variety of reasons.

Hamazura: Then why aren't you acting all crazy regarding these Kihara's like you did with the tattooed face one.

Accelerator: It hasn't really been established how I would treat other members of the Kihara family, but depending on their actions I would probably try treating them to painful death as well.

Hamazura: (writes something down) Note to self, do not get on Accelerator's bad side.

Accelerator: (_He reads a note on the script_) According to this, one of the characters we just talked about will be making a small appearance during the following chapter.

Hamazura: Does it say who it's going to be?

Accelerator: It doesn't. It wants us to guess.

Hamazura: The author wants the readers to play the guessing game? In that case, the choices are Konori, Wataru, Komaba, Therestina, or Gensei. Who do you think will making an appearance in the next chapter? Find out next week.

**Omake End**

/

**Author Notes**: For those of you who posted reviews in the previous chapter, thank you very much. Chapter Six is currently the most reviewed chapter of this fanfiction so far, and I hope each subsequent chapter will get a similar number of reviews as well. I appreciate the feedback, and I hope everyone will post more reviews in the future. It would be an honor to surpass the 50 review milestone soon.

I found this chapter to be somewhat more difficult to write than the first or third chapter of the side story. I guess it is because this one is meant to be more peaceful and innocent than any of the other chapters that have been written so far. It appears writing "breather episodes" is a harder task than I originally thought. However, after I started writing the Mikoto and Touma childhood friendship scenes, things started to proceed much more smoothly.

Amata Kihara has made his debut appearance in the story. This was partly due to popular demand, but his eventual involvement was always part of the plan. I was just trying to figure out the appropriate moment for him to make his debut. While writing the chapter, I realized this was the perfect opportunity. You can expect more from him besides cameo appearances.

I also read in one of the reviews of the previous chapter that someone was expecting there to be a cliffhanger ending. You were absolutely right about that. I had the ending of this chapter basically mapped before the first chapter was released. I am impressed with your accurate prediction.


	8. Story II Formation of the Friendship III

**Author Notes**: The time has come to conclude another side story in the "Of Science and Magics" universe. The planning for this side story was partly drawn out while I was still writing Birth of the Devil. I thought it would be important to go back further into the past and know more about Touma and Mikoto's friendship as well as what led Touma to living in Academy City in the first place.

When I started this side story, I wasn't sure how many parts I should make it. Originally, I thought it was only going to be two parts, but similar to Birth of the Devil, it started to write itself and it expanded into three parts.

For future reference to the "Of Science and Magics" TVTropes page, I was wondering if you the readers would consider Ai and Yuudai to be "Ensemble Darkhorses." Most of the people who have spoken to me directly about the story almost all love Ai due to her character development over the first three chapters, and they found her death scene to be genuine tear jerker. In Yuudai's case, most people thought he was a character who helped fill out the story pretty well and a good "third amigo." Would you agree with labeling them as that?

On the other end of the spectrum, most of those same people considered Fudo to be "The Scrappy." In case you forgot, he was the fire wielding Esper who fought Wataru during Chapter Three that blew himself up. Personally, I got the biggest kick out of writing his death scene.

**Special Request**: Several months back, I pitched the idea to Stormwolfex about the possibility of a fan-made manga adaptation for the story. Unfortunately, I do not have any drawing talent, but I said I could try to find someone if he/she is interested. Stormwolfex told me that it was fine by him, and he left it up to me to possibly find someone. I already have character designs for Ai and Yuudai, and there will be hopefully more available in the future. Is there anyone interested in such a project? If so, please contact me using the fanfiction email service.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Story Two: Formation of the Friendship – Part III (Final)

Chapter Eight: Bond Disruption

/

Bonds are important

Strong bonds are hard to break but

They can be fractured

/

Throughout the first two years of Touma being away at Academy City, Touma wrote numerous letters to his parents, and they loved reading about how much his live had improved. He told them although while he was still misfortunate and he had become somewhat of a joke at his dorm, he was happy. Touma kept talking about how he had made all of these friends, and there were two in particular he hung out with most. Their names were Yuudai and Ai. Touya couldn't help but think the latter name sounded awfully familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

During the first Summer of Touma's time in Academy City, one of Touma's letters stated that he was going to attend a Summer Festival with some of his friends. Apparently, they were going to wear some traditional Yukatas. This triggered a red flag in Touya's head because while Yukatas are less expensive than Kimonos, they were not exactly cheap. Touma explained that his friends won some money in a football tournament they participated in. He attributed their success to his friend Yuudai's leadership. Touma described him as a football obsessed fiend whom had been playing the game from the time he could walk and had all sorts of strategies.

Touya was relieved that the money was apparently gained by legitimate means, "I guess even Touma's bad luck couldn't stop someone else's strategies from failing."

Shiina laughed at Touya's comment, "That appears to be the case. Perhaps Touma-san's luck is finally turning around."

Touya did not really agree with that sentiment, "Maybe a little, but according to this letter, his bad luck has made him into a living joke with his friends. I suppose that is better than being bullied, but I was still hoping for better results. Regardless, I am happy he is finally making friends his own age." Touya then looked at the letter again with a smile on his face, "Academy City is the second chance our Touma needed."

/

While Touya and Shiina were discussing their son, something happened at that exact moment in Academy City.

"Achoo!"

It was a sneeze so loud that it could be heard by everyone within fifty feet of the sneezer. The sneezer happened to be Kamijou Touma dressed in his dragon styled Yukata who was walking along with his friends, Sasaki Ai and Yamasaki Yuudai, back to the Child Error Facility after the Summer Festival came to a close.

Ai asked with concern, "Are you okay Touma?"

After recovering from his sneeze Touma replied, "Yeah I'm fine. I have absolutely no idea where that could have come from."

Yuudai jokingly said, "Perhaps someone is talking about you behind your back." He was referencing the old superstition that if you sneeze for no apparent reason someone was talking about you or spreading a rumor.

Touma did not have to think about that twice, "You're probably right. Based on my luck, I wouldn't be surprised in the least." Touma began to look more distraught which appeared comical if you were watching it on television, but it would be uncomfortable if you were watching the moment unfold before you like it was for Ai and Yuudai. "That person is probably cracking jokes about me and saying that I am good for nothing."

Ai then whispered to Yuudai, "I think his poor luck is still a sore subject. After all, he didn't win any of the prizes."

Yuudai nodded in agreement, "True, but it was thanks to his poor luck that we managed to win everything we wanted."

This gave Ai an idea, "If that's the case, then maybe we should give Touma some of our prizes. If it weren't for him absorbing our own bad luck, we might not have won anything."

Yuudai agreed, "You have a point."

/

While Touya was pleased that his son was happy, he knew there was more that could be done. The letters make it clear that Touma's misfortune still presented a problem. He did not want something similar to that TV program fiasco to occur again. Touya would continuously keep purchasing good luck materials all over the world in hopes that something might finally be able to free Touma of his misfortune permanently. However, little did Touya know that his actions would eventually trigger one of the most unusual events that would occur in the history of the world and almost no one would be aware of it, including himself.

During those two years, Touya and Shiina met with Touma on three different occasions. They met him both during his tenth and eleventh birthday as well as the second Daihasei Festival that Touma's team participated in. The Daihasei Festival was a time when different Esper schools would participate in a number of sport events where they would have to rely on a mixture of their athletic abilities and Esper powers. Touya and Shiina weren't able to attend the first Daihasei Festival because of some complications. However, they were able to avoid that this time and cheer for their son.

There were some events in the Daihasei Festival where the use of Esper powers was restricted since using too much power would be overkill in some instances. However, since Touma's team was filled with Level Zero Espers and the occasional Level One, it was a general consensus they could never stand a chance against other teams that were composed of Espers that were at least Level Twos. However, Touma's team was capable of holding their own. In fact, they managed to pull a number of surprise victories thanks to their coordination. Touma told his parents that his friends and him played a lot of football, so they were used to working as a team and devising strategies.

Touma said excitedly, "It makes me glad you didn't see us last year. We did okay, but we were nowhere close to this."

Shiina asked with a smile, "So what brought about this improvement in your team Touma-san?"

Touma explained, "Besides practicing, I think it was after we saw this shooting star event last year. It was a spectacular sight, and I think it brought us closer together. Afterwards we were able to work more as a team."

Touya chuckled a little bit at Touma's statement. He never thought he would live to see the day that his son would be able to talk about great memories he had with friends other than Mikoto. It made him proud that he made the right decision to enroll Touma in Academy City. While it pained him and his mother that Touma was away from them, they were happy that Touma was enjoying his life. That is what every parent wishes for. "I see. Are those your friends over there?" Touya pointed out to a girl and boy that were standing behind Touma.

Touma nodded his head, "Yeah. It's about time I introduce you." Touma called out to his friends, "Hey! Come on over here guys! I want to introduce you!"

Ai and Yuudai approached Touma's parents. They were a little unsure about what to say to them. Before the Daihasei Festival began, Touma begged Ai and Yuudai not to mention the Child Error Facility because he did not want his parents to become aware of his living conditions. He wanted to avoid any unnecessary problems with his parents if they found out. If his parents arranged for him to live in another dorm, he would be separated from the friends he had so desperately tried to make.

Ai decided to break the ice, "Hello Kamijou family, my name is Sasaki Ai. I am a friend of your son Touma. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

Yuudai followed suit, "My name is Yamasaki Yuudai. I hope we can get along."

When Touya heard Ai introduce herself, he could not help but feel there was something familiar about her name. However, he knew it would be rude if he did not return the greeting. "It is a pleasure to meet you two. I am Kamijou Touya and this is my wife Shiina. We are very grateful you are friends with our son."

Ai immediately said, "We are just as grateful to be friends with Touma. All of our lives have changed so much for the better."

Yuudai added, "You got that right! Things are more interesting with him around."

Touya chuckled, "So I have heard. Touma certainly has an interesting life here."

Shiina looked around before asking Ai and Yuudai, "Are your parents here as well?"

Ai and Yuudai nervously looked at each other for a second before Yuudai said, "Neither Ai's parents or mine could make it this year."

Shiina responded, "That's too bad. I would have loved to talk to them. I am sure we would have gotten along."

Ai dryly said, "I am sure you would have."

Shiina noticed Ai's cautious tone, but she decided it would be best to change subject rather than ask any more questions about her parents, "How has school been for you three?"

Touma immediately answered, "It's been a mixed bag. Most of our class is pretty good at our regular subjects, such as math and science, but we have a lot of trouble with our Esper related topics."

This made Touya curious, "Why is that?"

Yuudai explained, "It probably has something to do with almost all of us being Level Zero Espers. It is probably more difficult for someone who doesn't have any powers to understand those things."

Touma interjected, "Speak for yourself Mr. Second Place. Despite the handicap of being a Level Zero, you are second in our class for Esper studies, and Ai is in third place. I've had to ask you two for tutoring in order to avoid failing and needing to take remedial lectures."

Ai chuckled, "Well that's true. You would be lost without us."

Touma was slightly annoyed by that, "Hey!" Touma's reaction caused Ai and Yuudai to laugh, and after Touma's initial annoyance wore off, he began to laugh with them as well.

Touya smiled at this display and said, "If that's the case, I appreciate you helping my son."

Ai waved her hands nervously and said, "Thanks aren't necessary. We are happy to do it."

Yuudai put his left arm around the back of Touma's head and said, "Yep. That's what buddies are for."

Shiina then became curious about another topic, "If you two have the 2nd and 3rd highest grades for your Esper studies, then who has the highest?"

Yuudai said, "It's a guy called Megane. I have talked to him a few times, but he doesn't intersact much with people. I am probably the only student he has ever spoken with."

Ai said, "He doesn't seem like a bad guy, but he is a loner. All he does is tinker with stuff, and he never plays outside. I find it quite depressing."

Shiina said, "That's a shame. He really is missing out on some god friends. If he doesn't change soon, he will end up falling into a bad crowd."

Touma responded, "Probably. There are plenty of bad crowds to fall into here."

Touya asked with a suspicious tone, "What do you mean?"

Touma realized he may have said too much. He knew that he should avoid talking about the gangs or the Skill-Out, so he said, "I mean that's similar to anywhere else, there are plenty of bullies, so I can see him falling into a bad crowd easily."

This was enough to satisfy Touya for the moment, and he said, "I see. Well I guess you can't escape the threat of bullies regardless of where you live." Touya understood there were probably gangs in Academy City, but noncitizens were never given information on them since Academy City would want to avoid giving parents a reason to not send their children to their schools. Touya decided it would be for the best to drop the subject since he expected his son to do the right thing.

Throughout the rest of the Daihasei Festival, Touya and Shiina continued to cheer for Touma and had more conversations with him and his friends. Since their parents were not able to attend, Touya and Shiina decided to invite Yuudai and Ai to some of their "lunch dates" with Touma. Unfortunately, during that time, Mikoto and her family were unable to meet with them as well due to schedule conflicts. It was disappointing, but understandable.

After reading about Touma's descriptions of his times with Ai and Yuudai in his letters, Shiina and Touya were happy this was in fact the reality of the situation rather than something that Touma made up to ease their worries. They could tell by his interactions with them that they were genuine friends that would do anything for each other. It was as if they were seeing Touma interact with Mikoto again. If only Mikoto could be here as well, it would help make this scene complete.

/

As Touya and Shiina were leaving Academy City, Touya finally realized why Ai's name seemed familiar. "Shiina does Ai's name remind you of anything?"

Shiina thought about it for a few moments, but nothing was coming to her, "Nothing that I can think of."

After thinking about it for a few more seconds, Touya finally put the pieces together. "Her full name was Sasaki Ai. I remember that was the same name as that couple we met back in Oowari and Okinawa. They said they were supposed to have a daughter named Ai, but they 'lost her.'"

A look of horror showed on Shiina's face, "Touya-san you don't think."

With a serious look on his face, he said, "I'm not sure. The only thing they said was that they, 'lost her.' They didn't specify that she died. This cannot be a coincidence. Does this mean they had to send her to Academy City like we had to send Touma or was it something else? Something doesn't seem right here."

Shiina could see what Touya was getting at, and decided it would be for the best to stop him before he went too far. "Touya-san please stop! We have already gone through so much to allow Touma-san to gain some assemblence of a normal life. I can understand your suspicions, but I think this is something that we probably shouldn't get involved in."

Touya was confused by what his wife just said, "But why?"

Shiina said in a desperate tone, "If she is their daughter, they must've had a good reason to send her to Academy City like we did. Maybe saying "we lost her" was another way of saying they couldn't be there for her whenever they wanted to due to certain circumstances. That is how I feel every day, but I am able to be happy because our son is happy."

Touya merely said, "Shiina," with a mixture of disbelief and understanding.

Shiina continued before she could give her husband enough time to contemplate a counterargument. "You saw how they all looked, and you have read the letters Touma-san has sent us. Touma-san, Yuudai-san, and Ai-chan were happy to be together just like Touma-san was happy to be with Mikoto-san. Let's not do anything to ruin that."

Touya sighed and reluctantly agreed, "All right. You have a point."

The subject was closed and Touma's parents left Academy City behind, but it was the last time they would see Touma's innocent look.

Several months later, the Kamijous began to notice something unusual about Touma's letters. After Touya received his birthday present from Touma, the subsequent letters were sent less frequently than usual. There were even times when there would be a several month gap between letters. While the letters did provide a seemingly valid explanation, it was not enough to ease their worries about Touma. Touya wanted to believe everything was okay, but something in his gut was warning him that something was not right.

/

In a lab, Kihara Amata is going through his notes regarding his current test subject until he received a phone call. Before he picked it up, he had a pretty good idea who was calling him, and he answered, "Kihara here."

Aleister's voice was on the other end and responded, "I trust you know what this is about."

Amata said in an uninterested tone, "It's about the death of Vampire and his gang right?"

Aleister gave a standard response, "Indeed."

Amata said with disgust, "From my understanding they were wasted by the Skill-Out. Being killed by maggots that failed to become test subjects is nothing short of pitiful."

Aleister coldly responded, "You do not seem particularly affected by your test subject's death. Rather you are bothered by the way he was killed."

This annoyed Amata that they were even talking about those Espers, "To hell with him and his cronies! He may have been developing a backbone and some skill, but I never thought he was worth my time despite his supposed potential. The fact he was killed by a bunch of Level Zeroes proves he was a waste of resources."

Aleister expected that response from Amata, "Vampire was far from a waste. He performed his task, and he was no longer necessary afterwards."

Amata shot back at Aleister, "What the hell is that suppose to mean? As I recall, you wanted that Imagine Breaker brat to end up as a willing experiment for the old man, but I don't see that happening after the Skill-Out took him in. There is no way he would be that naïve now."

Aleister said in his emotionless tone, "I calculated that this was a possible outcome given the subject's recklessness and the number of enemies he made over the past year. However, this alternative, scenario will help me gain a new piece that should be quite useful in the near future."

Amata was confused, "Are you saying you are fine with Vampire's death and the Imagine Breaker's with the Skill-Out?"

Aliester stated, "Vampire's death was inevitability. The work he performed as a mercenary after your training had earned him numerous enemies. It was only a matter of time before he was slain by one of them. However, it would appear his death was timed well. The fact he died during this task will make the new piece easier to acquire. Furthermore, having the Imagine Breaker train with the Skill-Out can prove to be beneficial to everyone."

Amata could see what Aleister was getting at, "So that's why you told the old man to avoid pursuing that brat or not asking me to use my Hound Dogs to track him down?"

In Aleister's cold calculating tone, he said, "Correct. Now that this alternative scenario has appeared, it could work to my advantage in the end. The death of your test subject could prove to be more useful to me than his life ever could."

"I expected no less from you Aleister." Amata then asked curiously, "So when will the new piece come into play?"

Aleister was willing to confide a 'few' details of his plan, "I will require sometime. The setting needs to be optimal before he will join me willingly. Additionally, certain arrangements need to be made prior to his acquisition."

"How do you know he will join you so willingly?"

From the way Aleister spoke, you could tell that he knew all the outcomes, "When people are put into the positions he will find himself in, they always need something to guide them and give them a purpose. I will present him with that, and it will be easy to control him at least until he possibly reaches the point of instability."

This was enough to alarm even Amata, "Why would he become unstable?"

This was one piece of information Aleister decided to keep to himself, "You will need to find out for yourself. I am sure when you meet this person, you will understand instantly."

Even Amata found this course of action questionable at best. While he did not mind his subjects becoming unstable, he was not comfortable with the idea of one of his co-workers becoming unstable. "You sure you want to take a risk on someone like that?"

Aleister said, "I believe he will accomplish everything required before he reaches that point. Afterwards, he will be free to act however he desires."

Amata sarcastically said, "How kind of you. You have it all figured out don't you?"

"Indeed." It was now Aleister's turn to make some inquiries. "Before I forget, you did obtain the data samples correct?"

In his uninterested, bored manner, Amata said, "Yeah, yeah. I helped the old man obtain those brats' DNA before their funerals. They will be ready for Project Phobia when the time comes."

Aleister chuckled a little, "I expected as much from you. On another subject, how has your progress been with the Vector Change?"

Amata was a 'little' more interested to talk about this subject, "The progress has certainly been smoother than Vampire's, but he is still nothing more than a pathetic brat. However, he has disregarded his original name and been gaining control over his powers. Making his life a living hell to obtain these results has been satisfying. He may very well become the strongest Esper Academy City has produced. He will be a true weapon."

Aleister did not seem too interested in some of Amata's personal assessments, "I trust you will be able to control him."

Amata said in an arrogant fashion, "Of course I can. I have thoroughly studied his abilities and his potential, and I know all of his weaknesses. That brat can destroy armies with very little effort for all I care, but I can kill him in a heartbeat."

That was enough to please Aleister for now, "Very well. I expect to hear more results from you soon."

Amata said in his usual sarcastic tone, "Of course Aleister. You will be the first to know."

After his conversation with Aleister ended, Amata said to himself, "What could you be thinking Aleister? Do you really expect someone you consider to be unstable is actually worth the effort despite the risks?" A few moments later, Amata began laughing, "Of course you must think that. Otherwise that would be out of character for you Aleister. Always having everything calculated to your designs leaving margins for error that are easily fixable. Everything always moves your way."

/

Four months had passed without one letter being sent to the Kamijou household from Touma. Touya finally said, enough was enough, and he decided to visit Academy City to find Touma. Touya was able to get some time off the following week. It was almost as if his visit was expected and someone decided to make it easier for him to enter. He knew that the first place he needed to go was the school that Touma had previously attended.

While Touma may have lied to his father about a number of things over the past year and a half, Touma did tell Touya the truth about the school he was attending. The last thing Touma needed to do was to make his father suspicious of him prior to making his final decision about joining Skill-Out. However, as Touma planned, visiting his school at this point would just be a dead end. When Touya spoke to the school's principal, there was not a single clue to Touma's whereabouts.

The principal said in an apathetic tone, "I am sorry Kamijou-san, but your son no longer attends school here. He transferred to another school about four months ago."

Upon hearing the principal say _'four months ago,'_ that was more than enough to trigger a red flag to Touya. "Could you please call that school for me Ito-san. I need to know if my son is actually attending that school."

The principal reluctantly agreed to Touya's request, "Very well then. I suppose I can do that," and he immediately called the other school. He finally managed to get a hold of the administration, "Hello my name is Ito Uyeda. A student from my school transferred to your school about four months ago. His name was Kamijou Touma, and I sent a transfer letter to your school at around the same time."

After explaining himself, the person on the other line said something that caused Ito's eyes to open wide. "I see. If that's the case, I am sorry to have disturbed you. Have a good day."

The changes in Ito's facial expressions did not go unnoticed by Touya and he asked, "What did he say?"

The principal nervously informed Touya, "Apparently, your son has never stepped foot in that school, and they never received my letter either." Little did the principal know, that Touma had managed to steal the letter before it was mailed, so he would be labeled as transferred in one school and no other school would notice his absence from the academic world for an extended period of time.

Touya realized that Touma's trail was probably cold at this point, but there was one last thing that he needed to confirm. He decided to ask Ito about the address in the letters.

This situation was making the principal more nervous by the second, "No one has lived in that particular dorm room for the past year. You will need to speak with the mailing room regarding that issue." After Touya left the room, the principal feared because of this that his career might be in jeopardy.

/

Touma knew that he could not let his father suspect that he was actually living with the Skill-Out, so Touma used the address of a dorm room that he knew no one was living in. Touma stole the keys from the mailing room, and he made a duplicate of them before anyone noticed. He was able to avoid breaking into the mailbox and potentially leaving behind any evidence.

While the mailing room worker stated that he could not disclose too much information outside of a police investigation, he did confirm that he recalled placing and collecting letters from that mailbox in the past. Since he doesn't usually socialize too much with the people who live in each room, he wasn't aware that no one was living in that room. This was enough to tell Touya that he was going to be needing aid from professionals. Touya immediately headed for one of the Anti-Skill stations. Luckily for him, he was about to have a chance encounter with the perfect Anti-Skill to help him with this situation.

/

Touya entered the Anti-Skill station, and he began to explain the situation. This caught the attention of one Anti-Skill in particular. The Anti Skill's name was Yomikawa Ahio. She then escorted Touya to another room so they could speak privately. Touya told Yomikawa everything he could about Touma, how he has not heard from his son for months, and he had come to find him.

After he was done talking, Touya said, "Is there anything you can do to help me?"

Yomikawa responded, "I'll try, but there I something I think we need to talk about first if you are willing to listen."

Touya immediately said, "Anything! If it can help me find my son, I will do anything."

Yomikawa signed and said, "That's good because this is going to take a while. First of all, were you aware your son lived in a Child Error Facility?"

Touya was confused by what she said, "What's that?"

Yomiakwa explained, "Child Error facilities are basically orphanages in Academy City were officials take in potential students who were abandoned by their parents or their parents died and there was no one to claim them."

After processing all the information Yomikawa gave him, Touya said, "Wait a minute there has to be some kind of mistake. Touma never mentioned that."

Yomikawa motioned to Touya to calm down, "I understand your confusion Kamijou-san. Your son told me himself it was due to an error that he was placed there, but he chose to stay willingly. He felt like it was the only place he belonged."

Touya responded, "That can't be it . . ." Touya then trailed off and thought about it more carefully. It actually made sense because Touma's friends tried to avoid topics regarding their parents or their personal lives, "it makes a lot more sense now that I think about it." Touya also remembered what Yomikawa said a few moments ago. "Wait a minute you spoke of Touma as if you knew him. Have you met my son before?"

Yomikawa said, "Yes I have. It was a few years ago, but your son left a strong impression. He was a good kid who wanted the strength to protect his friends. He explained to me about the mishap when I asked him about the Child Error Facility. He referred to it as the best 'misfortune' that he has ever dealt with."

Touya could now understand why his son never went into detail about his living arrangements before. "I see. So would the people who run the Child Error Facility be able to help me find Touma?"

Yomikawa's expression became grim, "Unfortunately, that is impossible."

This concerned Touya, "Why?"

Despite Yomikawa's tough exterior she had a hard time coming up with the words. "The facility was attacked by a group of rouge Espers less than two years ago."

Touya gasped, "What happened to Touma and his friends?"

Yomikawa responded with a grim tone, "Nearly all of them were killed. A few of them seemingly escaped but there have been no traces of their whereabouts.

Touya wanted a more specific answer, "What about Touma and his friends Ai and Yuudai?"

Yomiakwa had a grim look when she gave her answer, "The girl, Ai, was killed and we have no details regarding Yuudai's fate."

Touya could not believe what he was hearing. He put both hands on his head and said, "No," in a desperate tone.

Yomikawa went on to say, "Your son Touma was supposedly not in the Child Error Facility at the time."

Touya knew the word supposedly did not bold well, "What do you mean 'supposedly'?"

Yomikawa explained, "According to the records, your son was transferred out of the facility to participate in an 'experiment.' Due to that explanation the Anti-Skill had no need to make any attempts to contact him or his relatives. However, something appeared off by those records. Tell me. Did your son ever tell you about this?"

Touya responded, "he has only talked about participating in experiments in the last letter he sent which was four months ago. However, his letters started coming less frequently around two . . . years . . . ago." As Touya was saying that he realized the implications of it.

Yomkiwaka could tell that Touya was starting to grasp the situation. "Before we continue talking about your son there is another topic we need to discuss." Touya did not say anything and let Yomiakwa continue, "Are you aware of the 'Urban Legends' of Academy City."

Touya had absolutely no clue why this would be relevant but he had a feeling Yomiakwa would get to it, "No. What are they?"

Yomikawa explained, "They are very popular in the Academy City internet forums. They can be rumors about certain events, unique individuals, or conditions that need to be fulfilled in order to achieve something."

Touya was somewhat interested, but he really wanted her to get to the point, "Okay go on."

Yomikawa continued here explanation, "There have been a number of rumors lately about this new Esper in Academy City that people were apparently referring to as the 'Devil.' Apparently, he targets Espers who have been abusing their powers in some way, such as committing crimes or bullying. He usually commits those attacks in secluded areas where there aren't too many people, such as alleyways, but there have been reports that depending on the circumstances he also fights in the open."

This caught Touya's curiosity, "What circumstances would those be?"

Yomikawa said, "In most cases, it would be when he thinks the victims are in imminent danger, and it can't wait."

While Touya could understand why this 'Devil' would be seen as a criminal due to vigilantism, there was one thing he could not understand. "While what he is doing would be considered vigilantism, he still seems to be helping people. Why would he be called the 'Devil'?"

Yomikawa expected this question and was able to give an immediate answer, "Most people attribute that to his methods and his style of fighting. There are a number of rumors spreading across different Academy City forums regarding his abilities. While I can't prove or disprove any of those rumors, one thing I can confirm is that almost everyone who crosses paths with him is beaten severely."

The look in Touya's face changed immediately upon hearing this.

Yomikawa continued her explanation, "While he does seem to take it easier on Espers who commit relatively light offenses, he still knocks them unconscious. There have been some cases where he will shoot the Espers as well. If it weren't for the advanced medical treatment available in Academy City, it is quite possible a few of those Espers would have been crippled. Our most recent case was this trio Level Four Espers. All of them were covered in bruises, and they had bullet wounds to their legs."

With a look of horror, Touya said, "That's awful."

Yomikawa brushed that comment off, "To be quite frank, I would almost be willing to thank him for that. Like all of his other victims, they were picking on a group of Level Zero Espers. According to the witnesses, he managed to defeat them in less than five minutes."

Touya decided to inquire further, "What have his victims had to say?"

In response to his question, Yomikawa said, "We have questioned nearly every Esper he has beaten, and most of them claim that regardless of how much they used their powers, nothing worked on him. They only provided vague detail, but he apparently brushed off their attacks like they were nothing. Most of them have described what they were witnessing was not a human that was approaching them, but a monster or a devil. Overtime, the nickname 'Devil' began to stick on the different internet forums, and that is what most people know him as."

Touya had a feeling he knew the answer to this question, "So no one has been able to identify him?"

Yomikawa firmly said, "No. We have yet to have a single eyewitness that has managed to see his face. He hides behind a mask. The testimonies we have received have been inconsistent. The descriptions of the masks he apparently uses have differed as well as his fighting style. Due to the inconsistencies as well as the fact he has supposedly been able to elude us from spotting him, we have yet to officially acknowledge him."

Touya could see the look in Yomikawa's eyes, and he could see that she did not buy into what the officials say, "You must think this is legitimate right?"

Yomikawa immediately said, "Of course I do. In fact, I am sure my superiors think so too, but they want to avoid acknowledging his existence if they can. They are just using the inconsistent witness reports as an excuse. However, the inconsistencies can be easily explained as either multiple people taking up the same mantle as a collective entity or this 'Devil' is simply one person who is going to considerable length to ensure it will be difficult to pinpoint him. Over these past few months, he certainly has done a good job avoiding the authorities and staying within the realm of Academy City's 'urban legends' category."

Touya was suspicious of the direction this conversation was going. In the back of his mind, he knew what she was implying, but he just could not acknowledge it yet. "This information you are telling me appears to be information that the general public should not be made aware of." Yomikawa did not respond, but her face told him he was right about this. "If this is supposed to be kept under wraps, then why are you informing me about it?"

For Yomikawa, the moment she was building up to had finally came, so she came right out and said, "Because I believe you have a right to know this?"

His fears were becoming close to being realized, but he had not come all this way to back down now, "Please explain."

Yomikawa stated, "I believe your son might be involved in this." She then paused because she was expecting Touya to immediately make a reputable. It would not be unusual for a parent to become angry or frustrated from such a remark. However, Touya did not. She took this as a sign that she should continue. "I have had my suspicions about the records regarding your son's absence from the Child Error Facility when it was attacked. From what you told me, there appears to be inconsistencies with the records."

Touya asked, "How so?"

Yomikawa continued her explanation, "According to what you have told me, your son started attending another school shortly after the attack, and he was sending you letters regularly before. Additionally, the letters he sent you only became sporadic afterwards. If someone is participating in an experiment, they are allowed to send letters to their family, but most facilities would prefer letters being sent far less frequently than the rate you were describing. While they do reportedly respect their volunteers' privacy, they fear that he or she might say too much regarding the contents of their experiment. As a result, scientists who run long term experiments prefer their volunteers to contact their families less frequently than the amount you described." After Yomikawa said that, she decided to pause to see if Touya had anything to say.

Touya did not really have much to say other than, "Is that so?"

Before Yomikawa continued she took a deep breath because she knew this part would probably be the hardest to say. "Yes. These facts lead me to believe your son was there when the Child Error Facility was attacked, and he is or was involved with this 'Devil' movement in order to get back at Espers who abuse their powers. Besides your son, there have been other recent cases of Level Zero Espers going missing as well. Most of the cases happened around the time this 'Devil' case began. There is a good chance they are all involved in this somehow."

While Touya was surprisingly capable to accepting this, he found it hard to breathe. He thought to himself, _"How could this happen?" _Touya put his hand into a fist._ "Is this my fault? I just wanted him to live in peace. Is that too much to ask? I should have been more attentive. I should have realized there was something wrong much sooner. I truly am a terrible father."_

Touya did not say anything to Yomikawa and kept all his thoughts to himself, but she could see the pained look on his face. He looked as if he was mourning someone. Yomikawa put her hand on his shoulder and assured him. "You don't have to worry about this. You are the only one who knows about my suspicions so far."

This was enough to get Touya out of his self pity. He was grateful, but he could not help but wonder, "Why?"

Yomikawa said, "It's because there are two sides of this story, and the both of us need to know the truth before anyone else. I don't plan on arresting your son Touma regardless of whether he is involved in this 'Devil' business or not. If what I suspect is true, I think it would be better to give him another chance at life."

Upon hearing that Touya was filled with gratitude. He did know that he accepted everything Yomikawa said due to how everything she said fits. He could not be certain that it is true or not until he found out for himself. Regardless of the outcome, Yomikawa was willing to do everything in her power to help him. That was more than enough to earn his gratitude. He put out his hand and said, "Thank you."

Yomikawa accepted the handshake, "You can save your thanks for when we find your son. Let's get moving Kamijou-san."

Before they left Touya said, "You can call me Touya-san instead if you wish. You are going to help me find my son, so you don't need to be so formal Yomikawa-san."

This caused Yomikawa to chuckle, "Whatever you say." They quickly left the office and began their search for Touma.

/

Unbeknownst to Yomikawa, there was a recording device hidden in the room when she was speaking with Touya. In fact, there were multiple devices spread throughout the building. The listener to those devices was none other than the free-lance spy Tsuchimikado Motoharu. Over the years he had improved his infiltration skills, and he was able to plant bugs in multiple Anti-Skill and Judgment Departments, so he can keep tabs on them for the sake of his clients.

After listening to that conversation Tsuchimikado grinned and said, "Finally, an Anti-Skill with some brains and guts. This will be an interesting tidbit to report."

/

Both Touya and Yomikawa showed Touma's picture and description to over a hundred people in the area, but their search was fruitless. There were no witnesses that could attest to Touma's whereabouts over the past four and a half months. It would appear that whatever happened to Touma, someone made sure all his tracks were covered. Kamijou Touma had dropped off the face of the earth. However, they were able to find out a few clues that date to around the time of his disappearance.

Yomikawa and Touya were able to find the bank that Touma used. Unfortunately, the bank employee told them that Touma had closed his official bank account approximately four months ago. Since there were no issues that happened on that day, all the security footage of that day had been recorded over.

As they continued their search, they were able to determine that Touma temporarily worked at a restaurant as a cook. While, Touma's former boss was willing to cooperate, he was not able to provide any help in their search. However, he did give them some insight in Touma's character. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but Touma-san terminated his employment with my restaurant over four months ago on his own accord. It truly is a shame too. He was a remarkable cook."

Touya was surprised to hear this. Touma had never informed him of this talent in any of his letters. Since Touya did not seem capable of coming up with any questions to ask the restaurant owner, Yomikawa decided to do so. "Is there anything else you can tell us? It is of great importance we find him soon."

The restaurant owner thought hard on that. "Unfortunately, I can't think of anything really. However, while he was working here, he seemed to be plagued by something."

This sparked Yomikawa's curiosity, "How so?"

The restaurant owner explained, "When he started working here, I could tell that he didn't exactly seem happy. He acted happy, but it felt like something was off about him. The boy did seem to change somewhat as time went on. I could tell that his smiles weren't as forced anymore. When he was quitting his job, I could tell that his face had regrets written all over it. I figured that he regretted the fact he quit his job due his personal reasons. However, based on what I am hearing here, it seems like it goes much deeper than that."

"I'm afraid it might. Thank you for your help. If you do see Kamijou Touma again, please contact me immediately." Yomikawa handed the restaurant owner her card. "Here's my number where you can reach me if you find out anything."

The man accepted the card and said, "I wish you luck in your search."

It appeared that almost everything regarding Touma's disappearance happened almost simultaneously four months ago. There was no way this could be a coincidence.

/

Yomikawa and Touya continued their search for a week, but they found no new leads. Touya wanted to continue to search for as long as it took, but Academy City officials told him that he needed to leave soon, or he would be forced to leave. Touya tried to convince them to let him stay, so he could find his son, but they coldly told him to leave it to the officials.

Touya was frustrated by this, "Damn it."

Yomikawa tried to assure him, "It will be okay Touya-san."

Touya immediately shot back, "How do you expect me to believe that? We have been searching for days, and we keep coming up with dead ends." Touya paused for a second and shamefully said, "I'm sorry. Your just trying to help me. I get that. I just find this how situation frustrating."

Yomikawa said in a sincere tone, "It's okay Touya-san. Honestly, I would be more concerned if you didn't have a reaction like this."

Touya had mostly recovered, but his voice made it clear he was still feeling distraught, "I know, but what can I do now. I want to stay and help, but that isn't going to be possible."

Yomikawa said without any hesitation, "You don't have to worry. I will continue the search and will recruit more Anti-Skill members to help as well."

"How long will they actively search for my son?"

"I know I will be able to get my colleagues to help me for a while, but even if they stop at some point, I will continue to look for your son as long as I need to." Her voice was filled with determination.

Hearing that surprised Touya and all he could say was, "Yomikawa-san . . ."

Yomikawa made herself clear, "I may have only met your son once, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he meant every word that he told me that day. That is why regardless of how bad things look, we still only know half the story. I plan on obtaining the other half after I find your son."

Touya stood there speechless and Yomikawa took it as a sign that she should continue with her point, "I may not have any kids of my own, but seeing kids getting hurt or corrupted really pushes my buttons. The same could be said about many of my other Anti-Skill members, but unlike them I am unwilling to let this case go. I promised those kids that I would help bring the one responsible for their deaths to justice and I will."

While this all sounded good, there was one more issue that Touya still was not sure about, "Even if you are successful in finding my son, what am I suppose to do. If I take him home, I am afraid history will repeat itself regardless of where we move. If he stays here, how can I know something like this won't happen again. Would he even be able to return to a regular life?"

Yomikawa had an answer ready for that, "If I am the one to find him and he is involved in this, I will do everything in my power to ensure no harm comes to him nor will he be revealed to the public. There can still be an option for him to return to a life as a normal student in Academy City."

Touya was touched by Yomikawa's kindness, but there was still something else, "If everything you told me is true or ends up being true, it might be hard to convince my son."

Even Yomikawa was not entirely sure how to answer this question, "I will cross that bridge when I come to it."

Touya still had a doubtful look on his face, and Yomikawa did the best she could to ease his worries. "I won't tell you that I understand how you feel Kamijou-san. I would be lying if I told you that. All I can tell you is that you still need to take care of yourself and your wife. You won't be doing your son any good otherwise. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to keep searching for your son even if the Anti-Skill eventually declares this case inactive."

Yomikawa was eventually successful in easing Touya's worries, but he still had to leave Academy City empty handed. Touya decided it would be best not to mention all of the 'Devil' business to his wife. If he did tell her that, there is a good chance it would cause too much harm. Touya only told Shiina that Touma was missing and the Anti-Skill were currently looking for new leads. Seeing Shiina breakdown in Touya's arms was absolutely heartbreaking. They remained in that position for hours before Shiina finally fell asleep.

Meanwhile, back in Academy City, Touma's case was open to the Anti-Skill investigation and pictures of him were scattered across the city. It would be a shame that all their efforts would be for naught. Due to Touma's disguise and the fact Tsumikado was able to keep tabs on the investigation made it impossible for Anti-Skill to make any breakthroughs in the case.

/

One night, when Yomikawa was on her way home, an unfamiliar voice called to her from the shadows. "I must say that I admire your resolve Yomikawa-san."

While Yomikawa was not scared, she was certainly surprised. She turned around and calmly said, "Whose there?"

"I am right over here." A young girl with black shoulder length hair who appeared to be no older than a middle school student walked out of the shadows. "You can relax. I mean you no harm. In fact I am here to both praise you and help you with the matter of Kamijou-san."

To say that this young girl knew a lot about Touma's case surprised Yomikawa, would be putting it mildly. However, Yomikawa decided to hear the girl out, "I'm listening."

The girl began to say, "You are truly an Anti-Skill among Anti-Skill. You truly care for all the people you are duty bound to protect especially the children. You are someone . . ."

Before the girl could continue, she was interrupted by Yomikawa, "As much as I appreciate the praise, I am more interested in knowing how you can help me."

The girl gave a rather unique smile that had a sense of smugness. She then said, "Of course. Regarding the Kamijou-san problem, you might not be able to pull off your promise to his father without some assistance. However, I can provide that assistance for you." That was more than enough to catch Yomikawa's attention. "Unfortunately, the opportunity to do so has yet to present itself."

While this sounded good, Yomikawa knew that this was a girl who was probably around Kamijou Touma's age give or take a year. "I don't mean to be rude, but who are you? How would you be able to help me?"

"I suppose I have been somewhat rude without introducing myself first." While Seria's voice sounded polite, Yomikawa could sense a bit of smugness emitting from this girl. "My name is Kumokawa Seria, and I have certain invaluable connections that could be of assistance to you and Kamijou-san."

Yomikawa demanded some answers, "What kind of connections are we talking about? How do you even know of Kamijou Touma's situation in the first place?"

Seria gave off a rather smug smile. "It is really quite simple really. He and I attended the same school together last year, but we were in different years. He attempted to be the boy that no one would notice, but I could tell from the look on his face that he was hiding something. That caught my interest, so I decided to do a scavenger hunt on his life. By using the correct methods and people, I was able to scrounge up all the information I needed. As it turned out, my investigation caught the interest of someone in power, and I have obtained many significant connections as a result. You could say I owe my current lifestyle that investigation."

Yomikawa realized if what this girl was saying was true then she might know another important detail. "If you know about what happened to him, do you know who was also responsible for the attack on the Child Error Facility?"

Seria shrugged, "Unfortunately, I have no direct information or evidence to help you in that area. That is beyond me. Similar to how you felt certain facts were beyond his father correct?"

This confused Yomikawa, "What do you mean?"

"You left out quite a few important details regarding his son's possible whereabouts didn't you Yomikawa-san?" The look on Seria face as she was pointing this out annoyed Yomikawa. Somehow this girl knew everything there was to know. "You know as well as I do that most of the rumors regarding the 'Devil' indicates that he is most likely a member of Skill-Out, more specifically the Big Spider division. However, you left that out since that would indicate you would most likely find him in The Strange that is located in District 10."

"_This girl, what is she?! Has she been spying on me this whole time? That has to be it, but how?"_ After reflecting on that for a few moments Yomikawa also thought, _"I guess that doesn't matter right now. Ensuring the boy's safety is the higher priority."_

Yomikawa remained silent while the girl kept speaking. "You know as I do that if his father knew those details, he would automatically want to take his son out of this city without considering more reasonable alternatives."

Yomikawa defended herself, "I was not completely sure this was the case, but over the course of our search, the odds of that being the truth became more apparent to me. Besides, 'The Strange' is a dangerous place, so I would never consider bringing a civilian there."

Seria assured Yomikawa, "I am not blaming you for that. It would be unprofessional to endanger the lives of civilians anyway, but there is something more to your reasons isn't there."

Yomikawa paused for a moment and signed, I also didn't want his father to commit any errors in judgment before he could know his son's side of the story. If the person I met a few weeks ago is who I think he is, then he might not have anywhere to live on the outside."

With her smug look Seria said, "As I suspected, you did meet with him recently."

Yomikawa did not bother to ask Seria how she knew that since she probably would not get a straight answer. However, she did decide to tell Seria what she knew. "Fine. A few weeks ago, I met a boy who was wearing a mask. He thanked me for burying his friends in the Child Error Facility and they were some of the only friends he had ever made. He told me about how he had some near death experiences before coming to Academy City and the Child Error Facility felt like a place he belonged in. Before I could do anything, he managed to escape from my sight. I have suspected that he was Kamijou-san, but now I am sure of it."

"It is truly a sad case. I truly feel sorry for the poor boy." Yomikawa believed based on Seria's tone that she was actually being sincere in that statement. "That is one reason why I am willing to offer you some assistance, but only if you follow my instructions."

The fact she needed to follow someone else's rules annoyed Yomikawa, "What would those be?"

Seria gave Yomikawa a very serious look that did not give off any feeling of smugness. "Don't try looking for the boy in 'The Strange,' and just keep looking for clues in the areas he use to go to." Her tone made it clear she was serious about this.

This was something Yomikawa was barely able to tolerate. "What good will that do anyone? He needs to be found as soon as possible."

Seria explained, "Sometimes helping someone before they really need help can cause more problems than fixing them. Just wait until an opportunity arises. I will apprise you of the situation."

Despite Seria's reasoning, Yomikawa found hr to be too suspicious to be trusted right away. "How am I supposed to know that I can trust you? How do I know you aren't in on what happened to him and his friends in the first place?"

Being accused of being involved in murder caused Seria to show a face of disgust, but she decided to let it go. "You don't know. You are just going to need to decide for yourself." Before Seria left, she said, "I understand that you wish to handle many tasks, including bringing those responsible for the deaths of the Child Errors. It is an admirable effort, but in your current position, it is doubtful you will be able to accomplish that now. We need to concentrate on who is still alive. We can worry about giving the dead their due justice another time." Kumokawa Seria then turned around and said, "I have other duties to fulfill. I will be contacting you again soon. Goodbye for now."

Yomikawa was dumbstruck by what had just happened. She was not sure if she could trust this girl or not, but either way, she could be useful in saving Kamijou Touma. As her professional attitude demanded, she would not simply ignore such an opportunity, but she could not blindly accept it either.

/

Shortly after parting ways from Yomikawa, Kumokawa Seria noticed there was someone waiting for her nearby. He was none other than her hired spy Tsuchimikado Motoharu. He said, "That went well."

Seria gave Tsuchimikado a smug expression, "It did. I appreciate you finding a good candidate."

Tsuchimikado chuckled, "Well you did say you wanted me to find an Anti-Skill that could help you with your crazy plans, and she seemed like an ideal candidate. I find it absolutely amazing how devoted she is to her duty as an Anti-Skill despite the fact she doesn't get paid any extra money for those services."

"She truly is one of a kind." While Seria said that with her smug expression, Tsuchimikado could tell that she was sincere in that comment.

After a few moments, curiosity got the better of Tsuchimikado and he asked, "Why exactly are you doing this for Kami-yan anyway?"

Seria merely said, "I have my reasons and that is all you need to know."

That answer caused Tsuchimikado to form his usual grin, "Good answer." Before he left he said, "Well it is time for me to get back to work for my other client. Be sure to call if you ever require my services again."

While Seria was not particularly a fan of Tsuchimikado's behavior, it would be an understatement to say that his skills were worth the money. "I will be sure to keep that in mind."

/

It was late at night and Kumokawa Seria's cell phone was ringing. Her caller ID did not present a number or a name other than identifying the caller as "Unknown." Seria was certain this meant she was about to speak with someone of great importance. Only the higher ups were capable of avoiding her caller identification.

Seria knew it would be better to accept the call and get it over with. The last thing she needed was to upset an official for any reason. "Hello."

An unfamiliar voice in a polite tone could be heard, "Good evening is this Kumokawa Seria?"

"Yes." While her voice sounded firm and composed, Seria was actually nervous about the situation.

"My name is Aleister Cromwell. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The voice sounded polite, but it also sounded like it was only a façade.

This unnerved Seria, but she did not let it show. "I see. You're the General Director of Academy City correct."

It amused Aleister that this upstart knew who he was. "You are well-informed indeed. There is a matter I wish to discuss."

Seria knew that this was most likely about, but decided to ask anyway, "Regarding what exactly?"

"It is regarding Kamijou Touma." His tone remained polite, but something about speaking with this man gave Seria a chill down her spine.

She was right in her assumption. Seria figured her plan would catch the attention of someone in power. "Very well, what do you wish to ask me about?"

"Why are you so interested in bringing the boy out of the Darkness of Academy City?"

Seria calmly explained, "The boy is barely a teenager, and I would prefer it if he was living in a more stable lifestyle and attending school."

While that would have been a satisfactory reason for anyone else, Aleister could see there was more to her intentions than that. "That appears to be just an excuse."

"_Damn he saw through me,"_ Seria thought to herself, but she response was, "Take it anyway you wish. I find him very interesting, and I think having him attending school again would benefit everyone."

Aleister immediately asked, "What makes you certain of that?"

Seria decided to avoid answering that directly and said, "In all fairness, you do not seem to be particularly against my plan."

Aleister seemed amused by what Seria said, "How can you be so sure?"

Seria knew that she could not hesitate nor could she speak too fast either otherwise she would appear weak. "I have been told that when something ever occurs that would disrupt your plans beyond your calculations, you would eliminate the problem yourself or have someone reliable to do so. However, instead of eliminating me, you are opting to talk to me. From my understanding, the worst my plan could do is cause a deviation in your own plan that can be easily remedied. Additionally, you must have been aware that Yomikawa-san had her suspicions regarding the Child Error Facility case, but you never made any actions to eliminate her." After giving all of those deductions, Seria gave a firm conclusion, "Perhaps you might see some benefits in my plan as well."

The girl appeared to hit a bullzeye. "That is another impressive deduction. You truly are a child prodigy." Aleister chuckled a little before saying, "Very well, I approve of your plan, but there is one requirement you must fulfill."

Seria had a feeling something like this would be coming. "What would that be?"

"You need to wait another seven months before you are able to find this opportunity you are looking for." The tone in Aliester's voice made it clear this was non-negotiable.

This caught Seria off-guard, "Why wait so long?"

"As you must know, initiating certain actions too early can not only cause circumstances to worsen, but they can lead to irreparable damage. I suggest you prepare yourself for your own opportunity at that time."

Seria was left speechless by Aleister's final words. She thought to herself_, "What could he be thinking? Does he have something else planned for Kamijou-san? I suppose I will need to go along with this."_ Seria regained her composure and responded, "May I ask you something Aleister?"

Aleister was willing to indulge her request, "You may ask one question."

"Are you afraid that the boy will crush your illusions like he has been crushing the illusions of other Espers in Academy City?"

"No. All the illusions I once possessed were destroyed a long time ago." Before Seria had a chance to say anything else, "I believe this has helped enlighten you. Good night."

Seria closed her phone, and looked out the window of her apartment and said, "I hope you are able to survive the trials Aleister plans on giving you Kaimijou-san. It would be a great shame to lose you."

/

A couple of days later, a man wearing a leather jacket passed by a bullentin board and noticed something that interested him. The man's name was Kurozuma Wataru the leader of the Big Spider division of Skill-Out, and the picture he was looking at was a picture of his subordinate Kamijou Touma. Wataru could see that this was a picture when Touma was slightly younger. Touma's overall appearance may have become more mature over the past few years, but it has not changed too significantly, so there is a chance Touma might be recognized if he was not careful.

Wataru ripped off the picture and continued to his destination. He said with a slight snark, "It's about time they noticed."

/

_Location – A restaurant several miles away from the Skill-out headquarters_

The restaurant's operating hours had come to a close earlier and most of them were cleaning their stations, so they could go home. One of them was at his workstation listening talking on his phone. He said, "I see. I appreciate the update." The worker then closed his phone and continued cleaning his station.

There were a few workers talking in the kitchen who had gotten wind of the news of the recent disappearances in Academy City. One of the workers said, "It truly is a shame that all of those kids have gone missing."

"It scares me to think about what could have happened to them."

One of them turned to the cook who was still cleaning his station, "What do you think Ginjou?"

Without knowing it, they were speaking to one of the missing individuals. The boy was Kamijou Touma, and he had taken on the identity Temna Ginjou for whenever he would venture outside "The Strange." These men didn't realize Touma was one of those missing kids because the picture used on the missing person's report was outdated by a couple of years and Touma's disguise would be enough to differentiate himself from this picture to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

Touma/Ginjou's answer was, "Well I think the same. It is sad, but there is honestly nothing that can be done about it."

The coworker was disappointed with that response, "That's a pretty pessimistic way of looking at things."

Touma/Ginjou explained himself, "It might be pessimistic, but it is realistic too. I think a number of those missing people became missing on their own free will, and they don't want to be found. Even if they are found, who's to say that they won't just disappear again?"

One of the other coworkers said, "Well when you put it like that, it is just downright depressing. You sound like you speak from experience."

Of course Touma was speaking from experience, but he also knew that a number of those missing people are now members of Skill-Out or they are Espers who have gone into hiding. However, their story was more or less the same. They wished to leave behind the life they were living and remain that way. The only response Touma could give without giving himself away was, "Sorry, but that is just what I believe. It is truly a sad reality."

The coworker then asked, "Do you think finding these people is absolutely hopeless then?"

Touma did not answer right away, but after he thought for a few moments he responded, "No. It wouldn't be right to call it hopeless either. It would just be an upscale battle that the finders would most likely lose. However, if they are determined enough, they might be successful."

This caused one of "That is probably the most optimistic thing you have said since I have met you Ginjou."

Touma/Ginjou sheepishly said, "Sorry. I am trying, but being optimistic isn't one of my strong suits right now."

/

Meanwhile in another location within Academy City Mikoto and her mother were busy having their own conversation. Misuru was informed by Touma's parents regarding Touma's disappearance and decided she needed to pass that information to her daughter.

Mikoto said in horror, "This can't be true." Her mother had just finished telling her daughter the news of Touma's disappearance.

"I am sorry Mikoto-chan but it is." Misuru said this in an exasperated tone. "Touma has been missing for months, and there are no clues to his whereabouts. The Anti-Skill are still trying their best."

Mikoto demanded, "How long have they been searching?"

Misuru honestly did not know too much about the situation other than what Shiina told her. "For a little over a week, but there have been no leads."

Mikoto's voice was becoming more desperate. "No this can't be happening!" She put her right hand on her forehead in an effort to keep her head on straight.

Misuru tried her best to calm her daughter down. "It's going to be okay Mikoto-chan. The Anti-Skill are going to get to the bottom of this case, and they will find Touma-san. I just know it."

This did make Mikoto feel a little better. "I hope your right." Mikoto sniffed, "I would never be able to forgive myself if Touma doesn't come back."

Hearing that confused Misuru. "Why do you feel that way Mikoto-chan?"

"It's because I am the one that convinced Touma to come to Academy City." Tears began to build up in her eyes and her voice became increasingly halting. "I promised Touma that we would always be able to spend time together, and we would always be friends," Mikoto paused before continuing with tears falling down her face, "but I've failed."

Misuru tried to stop her daughter, "That's not true Mikoto-chan!"

"It is." Mikoto reflected on how she has been more focused on becoming a stronger Esper rather than trying to spend time with Touma. "I became so wrapped up in the idea of becoming a powerful Esper that I lost sight of what should be important." Mikoto paused for a moment before continuing, "Touma's my best friend. He accepted me, and I accepted him. I promised I would be there for him, but the only things I have done has been meeting him on specific occasions and getting jealous of how many friends he had made. I lost sight of what it means to be his friend. I should have been happy for him instead of being jealous. I doubt he still thinks of me as his friend anymore."

Misuru had enough of that. "Don't be so hard on yourself Mikoto-can! I am sure Touma-san still considers you to be his friend. When he is found, he can tell you that himself."

Mikoto wiped the tears from her face. "I hope so. When I meet Touma again, things are going to be different. I will fulfill my promise to him."

/

Mikoto's father, Misaka Tabikake, also received word of Touma's disappearance as well. As soon as he was alone and knew that no one would be able to listen to his conversation he dialed a specific number.

The one he was calling accepted the call an gave the traditional greeting, "Hello." The owner of the voice was none other than Aleister Cromwell himself.

Tabikake said with anger filled in his voice, "Aleister what did you do?"

Aleister unconvincingly feigned ignorance, "What do you mean?"

Tabikake knew he would be better off getting right to the point, "Tell me you didn't kill Kamijou Touma."

Aleister was unaffected by Tabikake's rage and calmly said, "Now now that is no way to behave Misaka-san. The boy is very much alive."

Tabikake accusingly said, "Then you plan on sacrificing him?"

The anger is Tabikake did nothing more than amuse Aleister. "I can assure you Misaka-san that I have no intention of killing the boy. He is far too valuable. I have made sure that he will receive proper treatment in Academy City."

With clear disgust in his voice Tabikake said, "Hearing you say that doesn't make me feel any better about this whole situation."

Aleister responded in his usual matter-of-fact way of speaking, "Trying to please you is not one of my priorities."

"You certainly went out of your way to convince me to allow my daughter to attend Academy City." After saying that, Tabikake realized something. "Was getting my daughter to be a student part of your plan in getting that boy in your city?"

Aleister response was, "You can believe that if you wish."

Tabikake's anger continued to build, "You bastard! Why go through all the trouble for one person? You better not have harmed that boy!"

Aleister calmly said, "My hands are clean of anything that happened. Besides, the boy is doing just fine."

Tabikake demanded, "Where is he now?"

That was one bit of information Aleister did not feel like providing. "That is restricted information. It does not apply to you."

Tabikake furiously asked, "Give me one good reason why it doesn't!"

Aleister was not fazed by Tabikake's less than professional behavior, but he decided to give Tabikake a preview. "The boy is on his way to realizing his potential. It would be counterproductive for any of us to interfere with his progress. By the time you meet him again, he will be a completely different person than you once knew."

Tabikake closed his other hand into a fist. "Damn you."

In his normal calculating tone, Aleister said, "You should know what is his prior situation was just as well as I do. He was despised by almost everyone where he lived, there were been attempts on his life, and besides your daughter he had no chance of ever having friends. Despite the power I possess, I do not have the ability to control people's wills by direct means. Everything they did to the boy was by their own choice. However, this city has enabled the boy to escape all of that. They boy was able to live a peaceful life for a few years and his life will have a far greater purpose here than anywhere else. For that, he should be grateful."

Something about what Aleister said rubbed Tabikake the wrong way. "His bad luck caused incidents to happen to _'him.'_ They were the root of why all those people treated the boy so miserably. Tell me Aleister. How many incidents in the boy's past were really caused by his poor luck?"

Aleister gave no direct answer. "I will leave that up to your interpretation. However, there is no disputing certain facts regardless of how you look at it."

Tabikake came up with his interpretation within a few seconds and said, "I swear to you that I will make you regret it."

This did not deter Aleister in the least. "Good night Misaka-san. However, I would recommend you not forget your place."

Misaka angrily hung up the phone. It was obvious to him that Aliester's subordinates were definitely involved in this, but there was nothing he could do to prove that. If he knew Aleister half as well as he thought he did, Misaka concluded that Aliester probably covered up any possible tracks a long time ago. Even if he could find the evidence, he also realized it would probably just implicate the scientists themselves and not the Board of Directors.

All Tabikake could do was mournfully look at the group photo that had his and Touya's family when they went to Okinawa and said, "I'm sorry Touya. It appears that even I was a pawn."

/

_**District 10 – 'The Strange'**_

While Wataru was walking toward Touma's place he bumped into his friend, Hebitani Tsuguo. "Hey Tsuguo. How are the preparations going along?"

Tsuguo had black hair that was styled into a punch perm as well as a small moustache, and you would always see him wearing his leather jacket. "They are going well, but we are still going to need some time."

That was enough to satisfy Wataru. "Well that was to be expected. By the way, have you seen Ginjou today?"

Tsuguo shot Wataru a look, "I know his real name you know."

Wataru said with a slight annoyance in his voice, "Yeah I'm aware of that, but you are one of the few people who need to know that. Let's try to not let other people overhear us."

Tsuguo somewhat nervously said, "Yeah I know I know. He got back about a half-hour ago. It looked like he was ready to take a nap."

Wataru chuckled a little, "Well a half-hour should be enough. I'll wake him up from that. Besides, I have something I need to talk to him about anyway. See ya later."

Tsuguo said, "Later," as well and went about his business.

Wataru entered Touma's room, and he saw that Touma was asleep. However, it appeared that Touma was having a nightmare based on his facial expression. Wataru decided it would be for the best to wake up Touma. "Yo! Wake up."

Touma woke up in a groggy state. When he finally recovered enough, he could see that Wataru was in his room. "Hey Wataru. When did you get here?"

Wataru said, "I got here a few minutes ago. There is something I wanted to talk to you about."

Touma was still trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but he heard Wataru, "What's this about?"

Wataru handed Touma the picture he tore from the bulletin board, "It appears that you have finally been labeled as a missing person. It took them slightly longer than four months as you predicted."

Touma looked at the picture, but he was not surprised. "I expected as much. However, it doesn't look like they have made any progress in obtaining my whereabouts. According to Tsumikado, they have been continually investigating in the area where I used to work. They may have spoken to my old boss, but they will never obtain any useful information from him. We may have had a friendly relationship, but I never divulged or even hinted at anything that was important. Almost anything I told him that seemed significant was a lie. Even if they are able to deduce that I have joined Skill-Out, they won't have any evidence to support it. The only thing they will succeed in finding are dead-ends."

Wataru said with a slight annoyance in his voice, "Don't act too proud about this."

Touma defensively said, "I'm not. While I am somewhat relieved to know that all the steps I took were enough to get the authorities off my tail, I do feel regret about what I must be putting my family through. However, this is the choice I have made, and I am going to see it through to the end. After facing off against that Level Five the other day, I know that I need to continue doing this. There are too many Espers who are too dangerous to leave unchecked. As we have both seen there are too many cases where they will walk all over those who are weaker than them in broad daylight as if they were some untouchable god." Touma paused for a moment and sighed, "I just can't let that go on."

After Touma was done talking, Wataru went on to say, "It also appears you are becoming quite an urban legend as well. You seem to be known as the 'Devil' to the web-surfing public of Academy City."

Touma was not usually one for looking up rumors on Internet forums, but this was something even he was aware of. However, it did not affect his stance. "Personally, I don't care what they call me. If they want to refer to me as a "Devil" then I will be the devil that drags those power hungry bastards to their own personal hell. It works to my advantage if they know me as something to be feared. Perhaps it will be enough to scare some of those punks into being 'law-abiding citizens.'"

Wataru sighed and walked toward Touma, "Okay Devil-san, it is time for a breather."

"What?" Before Touma knew it Wataru grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him out of his bed.

Wataru explained "Everyone needs to take a break now and then, and this seems to be one of those times. Let's get going. Konori is coming with us as well."

While Touma did not disagree with Wataru, he was somewhat nervous about this. "But what about the Anti-Skill looking for me?" Touma did not mind wearing his disguise, but he was afraid that if he went into an area where there were too many people they might notice him.

Wataru assured Touma, "I doubt you will attract any attention where we are going. No will notice you. Besides, you have been risking your life to save others for a four months now. It is also worth it to have some fun as well."

After hearing that Touma couldn't help but smile a little. "I guess you're right. It wouldn't be right to leave Konori-chan out this."

It made Wataru happy to hear Touma say that, "That's the spirit. Let's go." Touma quickly put on his disguise and followed Wataru.

Touma knew that his bond with his family and Mikoto was disrupted for now, but he also knew a part of him did not want it to be gone permanently. He had done everything he could to separate himself from what he used to be, and he had more or less succeeded. However, the bond he formed with Wataru and Konori had proven to him that bonds cannot be severed that easily, and his feelings still lingered for the bonds of his past. Unfortunately, at this point Touma did not feel capable or ready to reestablish his old bonds, but he decided that he would not fully close the door either.

The two of them along with Konori left 'The Strange' for a new fun experience to break away from their current routine.

/

**Omake**

Mikoto: All right! I guess it is now time for us to move onto the direct sequel of Birth of the Devil right!

Touma: I guess it did partly set itself up that way, but we are not going to be doing that right now.

Mikoto: What? Are you kidding me? With the way the author set things up, I thought we would be heading for the direct sequel for sure.

Touma: You should read this. These are the plans for the next side story. (_Hands a transcript over to Mikoto_)

Mikoto: (_Reads the transcript over carefully for a few moments_) Why am I the last one to know about this?

Touma: Well your screentime is getting diminished again, so you were low on the priority list of people to inform.

Mikoto: WHAT? BUT I AM SUPPOSED TO BE ONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS! THIS STORY IS EVEN DESIGNATED AS A MIKOTO/TOUMA STORY!

Touma: Once again Biribiri, that doesn't matter.

_Mikoto's world is completely shattered. Her illusions have been broken and she faints._

Touma: At least you don't get it as bad as Index does in the canon story.

_Touma words have no effect on Mikoto who is still passed out on the ground._

Touma: Maybe we need to find a new gag. Anyway, since you're passed out, I guess you won't hear me, but I will say it anyway. The author couldn't include you even though he would have wanted to. If he did, there would definitely be a major continuity error as well as an error in logic. I'm sorry, but you are going to have to sit this one out.

_Mikoto is still lying on the ground completely oblivious to everything Touma just said_.

Touma: Just my luck. _Touma turns to the audience_. See you later. Hopefully, it will be this Summer.

**Omake End**

/

**Author Notes**:

As hinted in the main story and by Stormwolfex, Touma and Mikoto's friendship was started due to deception. The friendship the two of them shared was far from being a deception, but it was created thanks to manipulators. It does put a few things into perspective. How would the two of them react to such a relevation? Would they doubt their relationship's legitimacy? That is a possibility. Would they think everything they knew was a lie? Would they see themselves as unwilling pawns? Having plot twists like this that are adequately hinted at or at the very least made probable due to a few previous facts being established about certain characters or situations makes stories worth it. Hopefully, you liked my presentation of this plot twist.

This story was originally going to be much lighter than the final product. Admittedly, this story is closer to being a "breather" episode than the previous story, but it did divulge a little bit from the previous direction. After I began writing it, I realized that quite a few things of this story would be a "harsher in hindsight." Since a number of the events of this story, more or less led Touma to entering Academy City which in turn lead to the events of "Birth of the Devil," the story itself ultimately became quite a bit darker than I originally intended.

Regarding the dream sequences, whether Touma actually has this ability is debatable. He sort of had that ability early in the manga adaptation of Index, and it has been somewhat confirmed that Touma has pre-cognition or at least an incomplete form of it. Stormwolfex confirmed to me that in this story Touma will have that ability as seen in Chapter 11 of the main story. Unfortunately, Touma will always have trouble remembering the visions since it can be difficult for people to remember the details of their dreams in real-life. Finally, let's not forget this is "fanfiction." If we followed the canon story to a tee, it would not be any fun at all.

Now that Side Story II has been completed, updates for this fanfiction are back on hiatus until later this Summer. The planning for the future side stories has already begun, but it will take time to write them out. However, I will tell you that the next story will be "another side, another story." As you may guess, a character who is not Touma will be the protagonist on the next side story. I don't plan on revealing who it will be. You will just need to guess.


	9. Story III: Tales of a Child Error Part I

**Author Notes**: The time has finally come for a new side story, and it is time to give a different character his time in the limelight. This will be the penultimate side story before the direct sequel for "Birth of the Devil." Some questions will be answered and some new ones may arise. The events of this side story along with plenty of others will directly tie into the events of Touma's time as the Devil of Academy City. Be sure to keep an eye out for the connections to other side stories as well as the main story.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Side Story III – Tales of a Child Error

Part I – Meetings

/

This will be our story

It began when we first met

I will not forget

/

Two young boys and one girl were running down the hallway. They were breathing heavily while running for dear life. Blood curdling screams could be heard throughout the building. Some said, "HELP ME!," some said, "PLEASE STOP!," and others simply screamed. This was once a building filled with joyful children who were always looking forward to enjoying their free time. Now it was a place filled with screams, blood, and death.

The three that were running felt guilty about running away to save their own lives while leaving their friends to their fates. Some people would consider them to be cowardly. Almost everyone else would understand there was logically nothing that could be done. Besides they were still pre-teens who apparently had no powers to combat these rouge Espers.

One of the friends looked over his shoulder and it looked like he was about to turn around and head back. The girl grabbed his hand and said, "No Touma you can't!"

Touma responded, "It just doesn't seem right to run away while our friends are killed like that."

The other boy said, "She's right Touma. There is nothing we can do. If we go back, we are dead. We need to escape."

Touma knew his friends were right, but it did not make things easier for him. "But Yuudai . . ."

Yuudai said in an authoritative voice, "We can talk about this after we escape! Let's move!"

The three of them continued on their escape, but they unfortunately caught the attention of the attackers. "Crap! This isn't good." While Touma and Ai knew this building well, Yuudai knew even more. He had been living here almost his entire life, and he knew every single short-cut and exit out of the building. When they arrived at a split in the path, Yuudai knew one of them went towards the kitchen while the other led to the janitor's area. Both ways should provide an escape route.

Yuudai quickly thought to himself, _"Maybe if we split up we can divide our attackers and make our escape easier."_

Yuudai pointed to the direction of the janitor's area as he told Touma, "You take Ai that way while I try to distract them and go the other."

Touma protested, "You can't do that. You'll die if you try to take them on."

Yuudai calmly told them, "Not with this." Yuudai put down his football, and kicked it with all his might, and it shot at the attackers at a phenomenal rate much to Touma and Ai's shock. The football hit Ookami directly in the face. "I'm not quite a Level Zero anymore. That is what I wanted to tell you guys earlier when you said you wanted to talk about our pasts."

Unfortunately, despite the pleasant revelation, this was not the time to talk about it. Yuudai told Touma, "I will head out through the kitchen area. You try to escape through the exit in the janitor's area. Good luck." After that, Yuudai headed off to the kitchen area while Touma and Ai went toward the janitor's area.

While Yuudai was running he could hear a loud shout, "I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL THAT KID!"

Yuudai looked behind him and he saw a man chasing him, but it appeared that Yuudai was actually faster than him so as long as Yuudai kept up the pace, he might be able to escape. Yuudai said out loud to himself, "It looks like I pissed him off."

No sooner had Yuudai said that, the man who was chasing him suddenly changed into some sort of human-wolf hybrid and began running towards him at tremendous speed. Yuudai said what any normal person would say in the given situation, "OH CRAP!" Yuudai ran towards the kitchen with all his might in order to escape the fate that would await him if he did not keep running.

Yuudai was almost at the kitchen. He was not sure if there was something he could do to escape from his pursuer, but we was going to do what he could. He said out loud, "I am not going to die like this! I will escape!"

/

_**Years before this incident:**_

_The Child Error Facility has been the life I have always known. I have never known who my parents were. Apparently, my mother was an Esper who was a pregnant teenager, but she decided to put me up for adoption. I was given away at a hospital anonymously, and there was no one to claim me. Eventually, I was brought to this Child Error Facility and raised here. _

_When I was four years old, I saw some of the staff members watching a game that was known throughout the world as football, with the exception of North America where it is called soccer. I always thought that was a game that would be more fun to play rather than watch. After I asked the staff members, they gave me my first football. Shortly afterwards, playing football was what I used to help befriend other kids who lived in the Child Error Facility as well._

_Even though my friends helped fill the void of not having a family, there were still times I couldn't help but think about my mother and what type of person she was. I don't know whether or not she felt regret for her decision or if she is even still alive. I don't even know her name. The name I was given was apparently given to me by the hospital, so I don't know if my family name Yamasaki is actually her family name or something they made up. There were no instructions given other than to help take care of me._

_To be honest, I have never felt any hostility towards the idea that my mother abandoned me. Some people would say I have every right to hate that woman, but I don't know her or what the circumstances were. It seems pointless of me to hate a stranger when I think about it that way. I may still be a child, but even I understand that in order to have a good home life with a family, the parents need to be stable and caring. While I never knew what exactly my mother's reasons were, I have always assumed that she wasn't prepared to raise a child. _

_I have also wondered who my father could have been. There have been a number of questions I have asked myself. Did my father ever know of my existence? Did he abandon my mother? What kind of man was he? If he were to meet me now, how would he react to me? These are questions I will probably never learn the answer too unless I pursue these myself._

_I haven't made a final decision yet, but I am considering the idea of trying to find out my parents' identities when I become older. If I ever do, I would ask them the questions that have been burning in my mind, and I would let them give their answers. What would happen from there would depend on whether their answers satisfy me or not._

_However, there is something else I feel I must do. I feel that I must thank those that run the Child Error Facility for giving me a place to stay when there was nowhere else for me. For a number of years, I asked around the facility but no one had been able to give me any answers for the identity of the person who runs this facility. The best answer I got was that the person's name was Kihara, but they did not tell me what the person's gender was or what they looked like. Apparently, they didn't know the answers either. However, I didn't give up because I wanted to make sure this person knew of my gratitude. I am sure there are plenty of others here who feel the same._

Over the years, Yuudai continued to become friends with many people of the Child Error Facility, and he even became somewhat of an "Unofficial Welcomer" for new residents.

/

During Yuudai's time in the Child Error Facility, he made many friends even before he met Touma and Ai. A few of them went by the names of Kinjo Chie, Maeda Yukari, Yamato Kanji, Kobayashi Rise, Miyake Minato, Takahashi Shinjiro, Amada Chidori, and Shirio Yuki.

All together, along with Touma and Ai at a later point, they eventually formed a football team. Each of them provided their own unique roles that eventually made it a formidable force. While Yuudai would eventually spend most of his time with Touma and Ai, he remained good friends with his other teammates. The bond they shared over the years was not so weak that it would be shattered due to a slight lack of quality time.

**Kinjo Chie**: She is a tomboy that does not take any crap from anyone. When she sets her sites on a goal, she will go to great lengths to achieve it. However, despite her rough exterior she is loyal to her friends. This stems from the fact that similar to Yuudai she never knew her parents either and views her friends as a family substitute.

**Maeda Yukari**: She is more into fashion magazines and keeping up with the latest trends in Academy City. However, she has proven to be quite skilled in sports despite appearing so fragile. Her accuracy when it comes to kicking the football is nearly as deadly as Yuudai's. She she can be overly sensitive to what people say, but she is also empathetic to other people's problems as well.

**Yamamoto Kanji**: The more socially awkward member of the group, but he is probably the kindest member as well. He would never have had any friends if Yuudai had not taken the initiative when they first met. His friends have helped him overcome some of his social difficulties, but he still needs more help. Out of the group, he has the best reflexes, and he acts as the goal keeper when they play football.

**Kobayashi Rise**: She is the most analytical member of the group. While she does not play an active role on their football team's starting lineup, she does fill in for people occasionally. Her real strength lies in helping Yuudai with his football strategies and understating the strengths and weaknesses of the players. Apparently, her analytical side was influenced because her family considered her the "weak link" in the family that they could spare. When a certain event happened that put her family in a difficult position, out of the five children in the family, she was given away without a second thought on the spot.

**Miyake Minato**: Despite his meek appearance, he is surprisingly good at sports. Besides playing football with his friends, he also attends a karate club as well. He is one of the few Child Errors who regularly leaves the Child Error Facility, so he knows his way around fairly well. Minato is also very intelligent since he consistently scored in the top ten of his classes. His main flaw is that he is emotionally withdrawn due to the trauma of witnessing a murder when he was a little boy. He would have been killed too if it had not been for the Anti-Skill's timely arrival. However, despite his stoic behavior, he has showed clear signs of having feelings for Yukari because she seemed to be the only one who could bring out the best in him.

**Takahashi Shinjiro**: He was the largest member of the group and Yuudai always had him play on the offensive. His intimidating appearance along with his skills were more than enough to frighten any team's goalie. Shinjiro is a more expressive individual who always gives his all. Similar to Chie, no one seemed to be capable of breaking his determination when he set his sights on an objective. In addition to his size and determination, he also had skill in cooking as well. Apparently, his cooking skills 'runs in his blood.'

**Amada Chidori**: She is easily the most cheerful member of the team. Chidori acted more as the team's cheerleader than a regular member of the team. Her most distinguishing feature was that she had long blond hair that she claimed was natural. There were a number of times she was asked if one of her parents were foreign, but since she was orphaned at birth, she could not answer that question even if she wanted to.

**Shirio Yuki**: She was the silent member of the group who spoke and expressed her feelings even less often than Minato. Yuki only spoke when she was spoken to or when she felt it was necessary. Unlike Minato who was willing to talk about his past, virtually nothing was known about Yuki other than she had a desire to become a member of Judgment when she entered Middle School. However, knowing that much was enough for Yuudai to trust her because he could tell she was serious and wishing to become a member of Judgment shows a strong sense of character.

_When Yuki first told me that she wanted to join Judgment, I didn't know what it was at first, so I looked it up. As it turns out, Judgment is somewhat similar to the Anti-Skill, except the members consisted of Esper students. They acted more of a Student Disciplinary team who would primarily handle problems on campuses or take care of odd jobs, such as cleaning or helping civilians find lost items. It was not unheard of for Judgment members to take care of tasks the Anti-Skill would normally take care of, such as arresting an Esper committing crimes if the Anti-Skill were not able to arrive on-time. Unfortunately, that also meant the Judgment members would need to complete some paperwork as a result. _

_Apparently, you can't get into Judgment only because you want to make a difference. While thinking like that is important, you need to also pass training tests and be on probation for an extended period of time. I couldn't picture myself doing something like that, but she certainly had her mind made up. I wished her luck in her goal._

/

_I learned that all the other kids who lived here have no families to return to because they either had been abandoned at birth like me, or their families had disowned them. In the end, all of their roads led to here. The friends I made here were the closest thing I ever had to family. There was one friendship I made that I could never forget. I met her for the first time when we were both five years old. Her name was Sasaki Ai._

The girl was sitting by herself on a bench. She seemed like she was trying to put on a brave face, but everyone could tell she was miserable. Apparently, she had recently been separated from her parents, but there were no reasons given for why that was the case. No one tried to approach her because they were not sure how to handle the situation until Yuudai decided to try.

_When I first met Ai, I could see the sadness in her eyes. I could tell that she must have known who her parents were, and she knew they had abandoned her. I may have been only five years old, but I could tell the difference between those who didn't know their parents and those that did. I have always thought those who did know their parents had a harder time adjusting to life here. That was probably why I always took the extra step to be more welcoming to them._

Yuudai walked up to the girl and extended his hand, "Hello my name is Yamasaki Yuudai. Welcome to the Child Error Facility."

The girl was speechless by the upfront approach that this boy had taken. However, it did make her feel a little better that someone was trying to be friendly to her. She returned the greeting in a somewhat timid manner, "My name is Sasaki Ai."

The handshake they shared would be one that started a friendship that would shape them both. Yuudai said, "Well Sasaki-san, do you want to play join our game? We were going to start a game of football, but I thought we should have more players."

While Ai was still sad about her circumstances, this boy certainly helped make things easier for her. She decided it would be better to go along with him rather than stay by herself. "Sure. Let's play Yamasaki-kun."

It would not be long until Ai and Yuudai friendship developed to the point where they would start referring to each other by their personal names and without the suffixes. Ai, Yuudai, and the other children formed a makeshift family. However, despite that, it is sometimes hard not to wonder about what life could have been otherwise.

/

Besides developing friendships with his fellow Child Errors, he was also able to successfully befriend one of the security guards of the Child Error Facility, Oshiro Botan. He was originally a grumpy, somewhat bitter man who did not like the fact he needed to guard the entrance to the orphanage.

When Yuudai was seven years old, he said 'hello' to the security guard, which surprised him. Ordinarily, the Child Errors and almost anyone else in the building would just ignore him, but this child was the first person to actually come up to him personally and say hello. Botan returned the greeting with a customary hello.

After receiving that 'hello,' Yuudai decided it would be for the best to leave things as that for the moment. While Yuudai was young, he was skilled in understanding the cues. However, Yuudai went to speak to that guard almost every day. As time went on, the guard became more reciprocal to Yuudai's friendly nature and decided to have a conversation with the boy.

Botan asked Yuudai, "So I hear you have made football the number sport in the facility."

Yuudai said with a little embarrassment in his voice, "I guess that's true. My friends and I love playing the game when we get the chance."

Botan smiled, "It looks like you and I have something in common."

"You like football?" Yuudai asked with curiosity.

Botan sighed before he explained his back story to Yuudai, "I used to play on a professional team until I suffered a leg injury that cost me my career. A lot of things fell apart in my life after that, such as my wife and kids leaving me, and the only job I ended up getting was working as a security guard here."

This made Yuudai feel uncomfortable. He was surprised that Botan was so willing to confide so much to him. "I'm sorry about that."

Botan reassured Yuudai, "It's okay kid. You didn't know." Botan honestly did not understand why he was willing to give this much information to this boy either. He guessed he needed someone to tell, and this kid seemed willing to listen. Botan added, "I still remember some moves that might come in handy for you. Maybe I can show them to you someday."

Yuudai became excited, "Really!?" It was as if the earlier awkwardness between them was forgotten and they were long-time intergenerational friends.

Botan smiled at Yuudai's enthusiasm, "Sure."

_To be honest, I didn't really think Botan-san would keep his word. He seemed like a nice guy after I got to know him, and he even gave me permission to call him "Botan-san" instead of "Oshiro-san." However, I didn't think he would go out of his way to show a little kid like me some of his old moves, but that would soon change._

_I remember it was a Sunday afternoon, and I had decided to go visit the park near the Child Error Faculty. Ai and the others were unavailable, so I went there myself. I met some kids who were a little older than me. But they also appeared to enjoy football as well. I joined them, and I was a much better player than they were. I didn't rub it in their faces or anything, but I could tell that I wasn't welcomed anymore._

_When I told them I was going home, I let it slip I lived in the Child Error facility. They used it as an excuse to bully me. They ganged up on me, and told me they knew that place was an orphanage. I'll never forget what those kids told me. They said I was a "reject" and "unwanted." Since I never knew my parents, I knew I couldn't argue against that. I think I was going to cry until someone unexpected came to my aid._

Botan said in a clear voice filled with disgust, "So you kids decided that you just had to pick on this boy because his skills surpass yours? You're the lowest of the low. So what if he is a Child Error. He is still a better person than all of you put together." That was enough to shut those kids up, and they walked away with shame on their faces.

Yuudai timidly said, "Thanks Botan-san. How long were you there?"

Botan explained, "I was taking a walk in the park when I noticed your game. When I saw those kids were bullying you, I decided to step in."

Yuudai nervously asked, "Did you mean what you said?"

"Of course I did." Botan then patted Yuudai's head, "You're a good kid Yuudai, and it would be great to see you continue down the right pat. You need to forget about people like them, and focus on who matters like all your friends back at the facility. You do care about them right?"

Yuudai said with a strong conviction, "Of course I do."

"Good. Always remember that." Botan then kneeled down to Yuudai's level and pointed at Yuudai's heart. "Holding your friends close and creating unbreakable friendships with them will help you both now and in the future. They will be in your heart, and you will be in theirs."

_I understood most of that he said, so I nodded to his words._

Botan grinned and said, "All right. Then how about I show you some moves before I take you back to the Chidl Error Facility."

Yuudai said enthusiastically, "Yeah!"

_The moves Botan-san taught me that day would help me in many future matches including a few matches at the Daihasei Festival._

/

_Not everyone was too willing to be friends with me, but that didn't stop me from trying. _

When Yuudai was eight years old, he met an Esper that he would have a strange 'friendship' with. It would be a more one sided friendship, but the other boy was willing to speak with him, it counted for something. As far as Yuudai could tell, this boy was not willing to speak with anyone else.

It started when Yuudai was walking down the hallway of the dorms. Yuudai noticed one of the doors was left open for some reason, and curiosity got the better of him. When he entered the room, it appeared to be more of a lab than a regular dorm room. This took Yuudai by surprise. At first he thought he was mistaken and somehow wandered into the laboratory facilities by mistake.

Yuudai decided to call out, "Hello. Is someone there?"

Someone with a bored tone in his voice said, "Whose there?," which surprised Yuudai because he was not expecting anyone to be around. Yuudai found the source of the voice. It was a boy around Yuudai's age who was wearing a strange pair of goggles on his head.

Yuudai was surpised by the boy's appearance. "Uh. My name is Yamasaki Yuudai."

The boy said in a rude tone, "Well what do you want? I don't have time to waste."

Yuudai immediately said, "Nothing. I was just curious about this room. The door was left open and this place looks more like a lab than a dorm room."

The boy said with a little bit of venom in his voice, "Curiosity killed the cat you know."

Yuudai sheepishly said, "I guess that's true."

Despite what the boy said, he decided to explain his living quarters to Yuudai, "This is my room. Since I don't have access to the labs like the other scientists, I decided to make do with my own space. You have a problem with that?"

Yuudai defensively said, "Not at all. I am actually impressed."

The boy said with a bit of smugness, "As you should be. I find it insulting if you found it to be anything less than that."

After the boy said that, Yuudai thought for a moment because he thought the boy seemed strangely familiar. "Is your name Megane by any chance?"

The boy was surprised by this, "That is correct. How did you know?"

Yuudai explained, "When you arrived a few months ago, I greeted you, but you didn't exactly say hello back."

Megane thought for a second before remembering, "Ah yes. I remember you now." An awkward silence goes on between them. "I suppose I should apologize for that." What he said had some sincerity to it. "I have never received a greeting before. I guess I didn't know how to respond to that."

Yuudai said in a friendly tone, "I didn't take any offense."

That conversation was the beginning of a somewhat one-sided friendship between the two. Megane continued to be a reserved individual who kept to himself. The only person he would ever talk to on a somewhat regular basis was Yuudai because Yuudai actually took the initiative. Despite Megane not really reciprocating Yuudai's friendship for some reason, he did seem to respect Yuudai for his grades. Only Yuudai's grades were the closest to his own in their class.

/

Yuudai would typically bond with the new residents by playing football with them. For a number of years, they seemed to be his whole world. However, little did he know that he would soon meet another friend that would have an even larger impact on his life.

_When I was ten years old, I inadvertently kicked the ball out of bounds, and it hit someone right in the head. He was another new member of the Child Error Facility. At this point, it was becoming hard for me to keep track of all the new members. We had a large increase of new members over the past few years. With the way the Facility expanded to fit in all these new members, you would think they were expecting these arrivals in advanced._

Yuudai was attempting to pass the ball to Ai, but he accidently kicked the ball to hard and it went flying out of control. Yuudai could see that it was about to hit someone. He shouted out, "Heads up," in an attempt to warn the other kid, but his warning went unheard. The football hit the other boy right in the back of the head and he went down.

Yuudai frantically thought, _"Oh no. Did I just kill someone?"_

Both Ai and Yuudai rushed to the kid's side to see if he was okay. Luckily, aside from the bump on his head, the boy was fine. Ai asked the boy, "Are you okay?"

After the boy recovered from the blow he nervously said, "Yeah. I'm okay." The boy looked like he was probably the same age as Yuudai and Sasaki give or take a year, and he had black spiky hair that would probably expect to see on an anime character.

Yuudai was quick to make a joke about what happened, "That was unlucky for you."

However, for some reason, the boy slumped over into depression and responded, "You don't have to remind me."

Yuudai was dumfounded by this display and thought to himself, _"Should I be laughing or worried about this?"_

Ai was also dumbfounded by this, but was quicker at understanding the situation. She said to Yuudai, "I think you said a taboo word." Yuudai quickly figured that the 'taboo' word must have been 'unlucky.' After saying that to Yuudai she offered the boy her hand and said, "My name is Sasaki Ai and his name is Yamasaki Yuudai. What's yours?"

The boy accepted Ai's hand and said, "My name is Kamijou Touma."

Ai giggled and said, "That's a fine name. Do you want to play football with us?"

Yuudai jokingly thought to himself, _"Hey you stole my line."_

Touma was happy to accept the invitation, and Ai pulled Touma by the hand and they continued the game. It was the game that would cement the friendship of Ai, Touma, and Yuudai.

/

_As much as I appreciate what the Child Error Facility has done for me, their handling of the education system was a little off. Despite Ai and myself being a year older than Touma, we were still in the same class. Well I guess I can't really complain because this allowed us to get to know each other better._

_Touma couldn't complain either because without Ai and me, he would have failed his Esper tests. He might be good in regular school topics, such as Japanese, math, and science, but he was hopeless in understanding even the simplest Esper topics. It was up to Ai and me to act as his personal tutors._

Touma was thinking long and hard before he wrote down his answer and handed it to Ai. "So that would be the end result of activating his powers right?"

Ai rolled up the piece of paper and lightly hit Touma on the top of his head, "Wrong. That's not it at all. You completely forgot about the circumstances.

Touma felt like that took his self-confidence own even future. Yuudai sighed and said, "We'll expali it to you again from the top. Hopefully, you'll remember this time."

Touma said with some hope in his voice, "I'll try."

Ai and Yuudai's tutor proved to be effective time and time again. While Touma's grades were far from being the best, he was able to pass without needing to take supplementary classes during the vacations between semesters.

/

_After we became friends with Touma, it was typical for us to go out into Academy City and explore the different areas. Since I already had some experience outside the Child Error Facility, I knew my way around. We went to a number of different parks and had all kinds of fun. One place I wanted to visit in particular was the 22__nd__ District._

_Of the 23 Districts of Academy City, the 22__nd__ District is the smallest in terms of surface area. However, underneath the surface there is an entire town. From what I was told in the Child Error Facility, the main purpose of this district was for developing technology for an underground town in the face of land shortages in major cities. However, in addition to that, there was a man made underground lake as well as attractions, such as a variety of bathhouses. However, we lacked the ability to afford such luxuries and Touma and Ai did not seem comfortable about going underground. I figured I would ask them again when we go older._

_It was always fun to hang around Touma and Ai, but everything in Academy City was too expensive. We may have allowances provided to us, but we would need to save up for a month before we could do anything worthwhile. However, little did we know, our money troubles were going to be long gone._

One rainy day Ai, Touma, and Yuudai were walking down one of the hallways, and they bumped into a familiar face.

Touma cheerfully said, "Hello Lifeline-san. Have you been well?"

Lifeline responded, "Oh I have been doing just fine. What are you doing walking around the halls?"

Yuudai said, "We are trying to find something to pass the time. There isn't anything for us to do right now since we can't play football today."

Lifeline asked, "Is there anything you want to do elsewhere in Academy City?"

Ai said, "We would definitely like that, but we can't afford it."

_After we told her about our lack of money, she had a strange face. I couldn't tell if she was sympathetic with us or to our problem, but what she did next was unbelievable. She wrote each of us a check and handed it to us. Before she left she said in a friendly tone, "Don't spend it all in one place."_

_We all thanked her, but when we looked more closely at the amount that was written on the check, no amount of thank you cards could possibly cover this. We all freaked out when we saw that number. I don't remember what the other two did, but I kept rubbing my eyes and pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. After doing that for five minutes, I was sure it was real. With this amount of money, each of us could live without receiving any allowances for three or four years._

_I don't know what Ai and Touma did with their checks, but I played it smart and put most of it in the bank. However, I always kept some of it in my wallet just in case I wanted to buy something on the fly._

/

With the Summer Festival approaching, Ai, Touma and Yuudai decided to do some shopping for yukatas. The amount of money they had could have allowed them to purchase ten yukatas each with ease. Thankfully, they had the good sense to buy only one each.

Yuudai already bought his own sheep styled yukata and was waiting for Ai and Touma to come out of their dressing rooms.

Touma was the first to walk out and Yuudai said, "You now I think that Dragon styled yukata looks good on you Touma." Yuudai was not sure of what basis he was coming form, but that is how he felt.

Touma asked, "You really think so?"

Ai then walked out of her dressing room wearing her own Dog-styled yukata, she said to Touma, "It really does look good on you Touma."

When Touma saw Ai in her Dog-styled yukata, he became somewhat flustered. "Thanks Ai. You look pretty great too."

This made Ai happy to hear, "Thank you Touma."

Yuudai made his own comment, "Well it's good to see you two have great taste. This makes everything much easier." Ai and Touma both laughed at Yuudai's comment.

/

_The Summer Festival proved to be quite an event. I don't think it would be a night any of us could ever forget. Touma couldn't win a prize from a single event while Ai and myself won almost every prize we played for. I guess Touma's bad luck worked to our advantage since he must have absorbed our bad luck as well._

_One game in particular I will remember is the fish game, where you had to capture little fishes in these nets. Touma tried that game ten times in a row, but his net broke every single time. However, Ai and I were able to win on the first try. It was kind of funny to see how determined Touma was to win that game. I guess he must have thought if he could win once, it would mean his bad luck could somehow turn around._

Yuudai said to Touma while trying to contain his laughter, "Touma are you sure you want to play this game again? You've already lost nine times."

Touma said with a strangely determined tone in his voice, "I'm not going to give up that easily." After attempting for a tenth time, Touma's net broke again, "Crap!"

Ai patted Touma on the back to comfort him, "There, there Touma. We should do something else. There are plenty of other booths we can try."

_At least the festival food was good and none of us had to worry about food poisoning. Touma really seemed to enjoy eating the different varieties of food. I guess eating good food at the festival was the closest thing he had to good luck._

_Overall, we had a great time at the festival. We were there until it was closing time, and we had so many prizes that we almost couldn't carry them all. Thankfully Touma was happy to lighten the load._

Ai said to her friends, "That was some festival. I have never been to one before, but I liked it."

Yuudai said, "Yeah I certainly enjoyed myself. Winning prizes and enjoying good food is a great way to enjoy the night."

Touma did not say anything. Instead his nose began to twitch a little bit. This went unnoticed by Ai and Yuudai. Ai decided to ask Touma directly, "Well what did you think of the festival Touma?"

All of a suddenly, Touma started to seem a little strange. The way he was breathing seemed abnormal. Yuudai said, "Hey Touma. Are you okay?"

As soon as Yuudai said that Touma went, "Achoo!" Touma had produced a sneeze so loud that it could be heard by everyone within fifty feet of the sneezer.

Ai asked with concern, "Are you okay Touma?"

After recovering from his sneeze Touma replied, "Yeah I'm fine. I have absolutely no idea where that could have come from."

Yuudai jokingly said, "Perhaps someone is talking about you behind your back." He was referencing the old superstition that if you sneeze for no apparent reason someone was talking about you or spreading a rumor.

Touma did not have to think about that twice, "You're probably right. Based on my luck, I wouldn't be surprised in the least." Touma began to look more distraught which appeared comical if you were watching it on television, but it would be uncomfortable if you were watching the moment unfold before you like it was for Ai and Yuudai. "That person is probably cracking jokes about me and saying that I am good for nothing."

Ai then whispered to Yuudai, "I think his poor luck is still a sore subject. After all, he didn't win any of the prizes."

Yuudai nodded in agreement, "True, but it was thanks to his poor luck that we managed to win everything we wanted."

This gave Ai an idea, "If that's the case, then maybe we should give Touma some of our prizes. If it weren't for him absorbing our own bad luck, we might not have won anything."

Yuudai agreed, "You have a point."

_After we got back to the Child Error Facility, the look on Touma's face when we gave him a few of our prizes was priceless. I wished I had taken a picture of it._

/

_Not having a family of my own has always left me with a void in my life. Being able to fill that void has been one of the greatest puzzles of my life. I guess it might be the same for the others as well, but it isn't my business to know unless they chose to tell me. There isn't any point in comparing our feelings either. There might be similarities in our feelings, but we all have chosen to handle it differently. I chose to make as many friends as I can. _

_For every friend I made, I felt the void becoming filled little by little. However, now that I m best friends with Touma and Ai, I feel the happiest I have ever been. I don't want our time to end. I think those two were the pieces I needed to complete the puzzle. Am I being selfish? Maybe. But I will do what I can for them._

_How little I knew that becoming friends with Touma would eventually lead to all sorts of changes in my life. For better and for worst, Touma had the ability to change people's lives and destinies, and I am certain that not even he knew it._ _I am really glad I hit Touma with the football that day. If I didn't we may not have had an interesting or even a proper introduction. I want things to last like this forever._

/

_However, there was one thing I never really thought about after Touma arrived here. There were fewer new arrivals than there were before. Before Touma came here, I remember how we received new Child Errors pretty often, but that changed after Touma arrived. _

_Since I would usually welcome newcomers shortly after they arrived here, I eventually noticed this. However, I didn't really think about it because I was distracted by how much fun I was having with Touma and Ai. If this means fewer kids were being abandoned by their families, that was a good thing. It did seem strange that the number of people coming would almost come to a halt so suddenly, but what should you expect from a pre-teen._

/

**Omake**:

Touma: Well here we are. A brand new side story, and it is someone else's turn to take the spotlight.

Mikoto: At least you got to be in the story.

Touma: I didn't say I was complaining about it Biribiri. I personally think this is a good move because it allows a new perspective on the story to develop as well as allow for the introduction of other characters.

Mikoto: Speaking of which, what was with some of those new characters that were introduced in this chapter. They really didn't add much to it at all.

Touma: Well as you know the only named individuals who lived in the Child Error Facility before this chapter were myself, Ai, Yuudai, and Megane. These characters were meant to give more names and personalities to the other residents of the facility as well as establish a few other friends Yuudai had in the Facility besides myself and Ai.

Mikoto: I guess I understand.

Touma: There was another task the author wanted to accomplish here.

Mikoto: What would that be?

Touma: The author figured if he established some more individual Child Errors, he could avoid any possible "Nikki and Paulo" incidents.

Mikoto: (Mikoto gasps) Are you talking about how the writers of Lost randomly introduced those two castaways during the third season without any prior foreshadowing or appearances and had them join the cast out of nowhere?

Touma: That's right.

Mikoto: Man. The way those two characters were handled was so terrible they were killed off only eleven episodes after their introduction.

Touma: Also correct. We would want to avoid such incidents as best as we can. It was definitely a good decision on the author's part to introduce them in this fashion.

Mikoto: Agreed. However, there is another thing that's bugging me.

Touma: What is it?

Mikoto: Why do their names sound familiar to me?

Touma: Oh that. The author is a fan of the Persona series, so he decided to use a few of characters' names, and he decided on different family names for them too. In fact, the author used the name Yamasaki Yuudai as the protagonist's name he used when he played Persona 4.

Mikoto: Is that so?

Touma: Yes. Speaking of which, Western players be sure to pick up your copy of Persona 4 Arena for the PS3 and X-Box 360 as well as Persona 4 Golden for the Playstation Vita coming out October 2012!

Mikoto: What the hell is this a video game advertisement?!

/

**Author Notes**: I hope you enjoyed the fresh take from viewing parts of the story with a different protagonist. This story was something I had partially planned while I was writing "Birth of the Devil." While I was satisfied with the character development I gave Ai during that story, I was not entirely satisfied with Yuudai's development. I decided that Yuudai would be a good character to focus on in order to allow him to have some more character development and see certain events from his perspective. After completing this side story, I am satisfied with the final result, and I hope you will be satisfied with it as well over the next two chapters. They will be released in installments over the next two weeks.

On another note, I am happy to say that Stormwolfex has finally made his return. After being on hiatus for nearly a year, he has begun writing an Index/Sword Art Online crossover story known as "Crossing Swords," and he has announced that he intends to continue the main story for "Of Science and Magics." Be sure to check out his new story, and let him know that you are glad that is okay.

/

**Special Request**: Several months back, I pitched the idea to Stormwolfex about the possibility of a fan-made manga adaptation for the story. Unfortunately, I do not have any drawing talent, but I said I could try to find someone if he/she is interested. Stormwolfex told me that it was fine by him, and he left it up to me to possibly find someone. I already have character designs for Ai and Yuudai, and there will be hopefully more available in the future. Is there anyone interested in such a project? If so, please contact me using the fanfiction email service.


	10. Story III: Tales of a Child Error Part 2

**Author Notes**: With this chapter I have finally reached the ten chapter barrier. By the time of the next chapter, this story will also surpass 100,000 words. Additionally, recently this story has also surpassed the 50 review barrier as well. I hope it will receive another 50 chapters at a much faster pace than before. Please leave reviews. I would greatly appreciate it.

I have personally enjoyed having Yuudai as the main character of this Side Story because it allows for new plot lines and character, and it gave me a chance to flesh out Yuudai. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Side Story III – Tales of a Child Error

Part II – Eternal Divergence

/

We walked side by side

Our paths shall separate here

We will be apart

/

_We shared many great moments together, but there was one time I was afraid we would all be killed. We were walking home when we were surrounded by these gang members._

Ai, Touma, and Yuudai had found themselves in a hopeless situation. The leader of the gang pulled out his knife and said, "Hand over all your money and I won't stab you."

Yuudai thought to himself, "This isn't good. I've heard of these guys. They have been mugging people and putting them into the hospital for the past few weeks. But they have never been here before. I guess they changed their hunting ground."

The man interrupted Yuudai's thoughts. "Come on! We don't have all day!"

Yuudai looked beside him and he could see the terror in Ai's eyes, and he reluctantly said, "All right. Guys give me your wallets." Touma and Ai handed the wallets to Yuudai, and he handed them to the knife wielder's underlings.

The knife wielder said, "That was a wise move kid. Too many others have been stupid and tried to resist us only to end up in the hospital." Yuudai did not like the tone in the man's voice. "However, I don't really like to give people bonus points for being smart either." The man ordered his subordinates in a casual tone, "You can beat them now."

Yuudai said in a terrified voice, "But we cooperated! Why do you still want to hurt us?"

The knife wielder said, "It's because I find the experience of causing pain for others to be amazing." It was a quick and a casual rely that left Ai, Touma, and Yuudai speechless. This guy was serious about that.

Luckily before the knife wielder's underlings could get started a woman with long dark hair in a green jumpsuit said, "Hey! What's going on here?"

This caused everyone to stop. The woman appeared to be in good shape, but the knife wielder thought she would still be an easy target. "It looks like I will be having a little fun with you later." He then charged at the woman.

The knife wielder greatly underestimated the woman's abilities. Not only did she disarm him, but she also managed to grab him, and she threw him head first into a wall.

His underlings tried to avenge their leader, but to no avail. One of them tied to attack Yomikawa from the front and another from behind. Yomikawa used the one coming from the front's momentum to collide into the one behind her. The last one tired to attack her as well, but she was able to use his lack of skill to her advantage. She was able to grab his arm and flip him over.

After Yomikawa subdued them, she called for reinforcements to escort the criminals to prison, and she returned the wallets to their rightful owners. She asked them, "What are you three doing out here by yourselves.

Touma said, "We live in the Child Error Facility which is close to here. We were on our way home before we ran into those guys."

Yomikawa said, "I see. Then allow me to escort you back."

Ai excitedly said, "Really that would be great thank you."

While they were not as excited as Ai, both Touma and Yuudai said, "Thank you."

_After the other Anti-Skill arrested the gang members, Yomikawa escorted us back home. I didn't say much, but Touma was talked to Yomikawa a lot on the way back. He asked her about how she became so strong. She told us that the training to be an Anti-Skill was rather rigorous, but the results made it worth it._

Touma said to Yomikawa, "Then I have decided. I want to become an Anti-Skill when I become older just like you."

Yomikawa chuckled at Touma's words, "That is flattering Kamijou-san. Do you have any specific reason for wanting to become an Anti-Skill besides becoming stronger?"

Touma scratched the back of his head, "Well I want to become someone who can protect innocent people and be someone my parents can be proud of, so I want to get started as soon as possible."

That statement caught Yomikawa's attention, "Your parents?" Yomikawa figured since Touma lived in a Child Error Facility, he either did not know his parents or his parents had abandoned.

Touma explained, "Oh yeah you don't know. My parents sent me to Academy City over a year ago, so I could have a better life than back in my hometown. I was sent to the Child Error Facility by accident, and by the time the mistake was taken care of, I made so many friends that I didn't want to leave any more."

_Touma told Yomikawa about how he remains in contact with his parents, and they have even visited him on at least one occasion. I found myself to be a little envious of Touma, but I didn't let it get to me._

After Touma finished explaining everything to Yomikawa, she said to him, "Well I am glad that you still have a good relationship with your parents." Yomikawa then looked at Ai and Yuudai and decided it would be best to steer the conversation away from the topic of parents because while she did not know about their own situations, she could tell from the looks on their faces that it was not as optimistic as Touma's. "Anyway, I don't want to deter you, but maybe you should put your goal on hold for now."

Touma was confused by this, "Why?"

Yomikawa explained to him, "Well you're not even a teenager yet. I think instead of worrying too much about your future, you should be more focused on hanging out with your friends and having fun. You have all the time in the world to think about your future, but you don't have a lot to be a kid. Before you know it, this time of your life will be over and you will have a great deal of other responsibilities to take care of, so try to make the most of this time."

Her words did seem to have an impact on Touma. "You might be right about that." Touma thought to himself, _"It hasn't really been that long since I have been able to enjoy myself and make friends. Maybe I would be better off just having fun for now."_

While Touma was contemplating her words, they arrived at the Child Error Facility. Before they parted ways, Ai said, "Well Yomikawa-san, I just want to say thank you again. You have really helped us out today."

Yomikawa smiled at the girl, "It was no problem Sasaki-chan. If you ever need help again, be sure to let the Anti-Skill know."

After she said this, Yuudai decided to ask her a question, "Is there any advice that you can give us?"

It was a pretty broad question, so Yomikawa needed Yuudai to be more specific, "What do you mean?"

Yuudai narrowed it down, "Well the three of us like visiting different parts of Academy City, and this was the first time we ever had a problem. Are there any areas or types of people we should be trying to avoid?"

Yomikawa gave the three of them a stern look, "Yes there are. I would advise you to stay away from the Skill-Outs. The most likely area you would find them in is in District 10."

Touma asked, "Who are they?"

Yomikawa explained, "They are groups of Espers who are mostly Level Zeros that have turned to a life of crime under the justification that they have been alienated by Academy City."

Yuudai thought to himself, "Alienated huh? I guess I can understand that." He decided to ask, "Are they right about that?"

Yomikawa decided not to sugarcoat it, "Some cases might be more true than others. I can't say I don't feel sympathy for them. I know a number of them are actually good people that have walked on the wrong path. However, just because I can sympathize with them doesn't mean that I can just ignore what they are doing."

Ai asked, "Do you always arrest them?"

Yomikawa smiled, "I guess that would be my job, but I guess it is also up to my judgment as well."

/

_I was always grateful to Yomikawa, but that didn't change the fact I was helpless. I can understand why Touma would want to listen to Yomikawa's advice and just focus on having fun, but that wasn't good enough for me. I may be a kid, but I have been living under circumstances where I should be more self-reliant. This is Academy City after all. This place is where creating the supernatural is possible._

_To be honest, until that moment, I never considered having an Esper ability was important. I may have been put through the same initial process that most of the other people who live in Academy City go through to possible awaken their Esper powers, but I have never pursued it. I have never bothered with obtaining Esper powers because they never interested me, and the scientists seemed to ignore us a lot._

_I never really understood why the scientists ignored us. Were they too busy conducting their experiments? Was it the fact most of us weren't interested in potentially developing our Esper powers right away? I figured if I approached one of them, they might be willing to help me. Unfortunately, I didn't know how I could approach them. If I had nothing that interested them, then they might consider me a waste of time. Luckily for me, I would have my chance sooner than I expected._

_One time when I was playing football with Touma, Ai, and the others I kicked the ball wildly again. It didn't feel like it was due to me being clumsy or anything. It was more like I kicked it much harder than I wanted to. I remembered something similar happening a few times earlier, such as when I first met Touma. I thought it might be an Esper power awakening inside me. I decided to ask a scientist by the name of Narukami Souji._

_Narukami-san was one of the friendlier scientists and I thought he would be more willing to help me. As it turns out, I was correct. After I explained my suspicions to him, he conducted a few tests. We found out my guess was right. My Esper powers seem to be centered in my legs, so Narukami-san decided to name my ability, 'Power Feet.'_

_During the following months, I met with Narukami-san to continue my Esper development. It didn't really interfere with my time with Touma and Ai since we conducted most of the training and experiments in the early morning or at night. I asked for this to be a secret from the other Child Errors and Narukami-san promised this would be confidential._

While there were still times Yuudai would overshoot the ball, they were far less likely to happen. As Yuudai's powers developed, he became even more confident that he could achieve his goals. One time after their training session was over for the day, Yuudai proudly said to himself, "I am really starting to feel it. This power feels incredible. With it protecting my friends won't be a dream anymore."

Narukami overheard what Yuudai said, and he chuckled in amusement. "It's good to have a goal. No sooner had he said that, a call came in without a caller ID. He answered it and said, "Hello."

A voice responded with a scrambled transmission in order to avoid people form recognizing the voice. However, he guessed it was a female speaking to him. "I see you have been providing assistance to some of the Child Errors instead of focusing on the tasks we assigned to you."

Narukami could not help but think he was dealing with a child rather than an adult based on what she was saying, but he still gave her a respectful answer. "The tasks you have given me are being completed as scheduled. As long as I have succeeded in that, I don't believe there should be any problems with developing the abilities of those who have the potential and are willing to seek out assistance."

The voice was filled with venom, "We have no need for those Child Errors with their abilities. There are plenty more who have the same abilities spread throughout Academy City who are far more useful. These subjects are needed for a different purpose."

Narukami said defensively, "What purpose could that possibly be? Last I checked, we scientistsshould be encouraging as many students who wish to become Espers. It seems to me you are rather annoyed by this. I guess you wouldn't want me to know why exactly correct?"

"Hmm, very well. You can continue developing their powers, but it is a waste of time." Despite saying that, the voice still seemed annoyed.

Narukami confidently said, "I suppose not every case can be an incredible success story, but if I can help them obtain a power that satisfies them. That will be enough for me."

The voice was still disapproved of Narukami's actions, "This will be such a waste of a talented individual such as yourself, but I suppose this is your choice, and I cannot change that." The voice then changed the topic, "Are you making progress with your current assignment?"

Narukami said, "Yes I am. It should be done within the month as planned."

The voice then said, "Make sure you complete your assignment within the next month. Otherwise, we will have problems on our side."

The person promptly hung up leaving Narukami confused. "What could she have meant by that?"

/

It was a snowy day and both Ai and Touma had gone out to do some shopping. Yuudai had already decided to spend the day at the laboratory to further test his powers.

Narukami told Yuudai, "That was very impressive Yuudai. You still have a ways to go, but you have already attained a greater sense of control now. I think we can soon start developing new ways for you to utilize your powers."

Yuudai enthusiastically said, "Thank you. Is there anything else you can figure out about my powers?"

Narukami took a breath before saying, "Unfortunately, we still don't know what your Esper Level will be, but when the next system scan happens, you can expect a promising result."

That was more than enough to get Yuudai excited. "That's good to know, but I was thinking more along the lines of different ways I can use my powers."

That was another topic, Narukami was unable to provide an answer for. "It is still a little too early to say. As of this moment, your power seems to be concentrated in your legs. Not only should you be able to kick small items at a high velocity, but large objects or people as well. In fact, I believe if you were to concentrate, you could use your legs to jump to great heights and long distances. However, you might need more training before you can do that."

Yuudai understood training would be necessary, but he was not sure how it would necessarily help him achieve the feat Narukami was talking about, "How so?"

Narukami explained, "Well you will need to become better at predicting projection as well as properly utilizing your powers. If you do something wrong, you can overshoot yourself or cause unnecessary damage to your surroundings. If you ever get into a fight, you are going to want your powers to be second nature."

"I see. Well I guess I shouldn't be expected to gain full control over all my powers so soon. That was the reason why I sometimes kicked the ball so wildly in the first place." Yuudai was somewhat disappointed, but even he knew that he should not be impatient about these kinds of things.

"Correct. You were inadvertently activating your powers at the time." Narukami said in a reassuring tone, "However, due to our training, you can control it much more effectively now. You might become quite the hero."

Yuudai felt like he needed more convincing, "You really think so?"

"Yes. I am certain that you will be able to put your talents to good use." His voice made it clear that he believed what he was saying.

Yuudai was happy to hear that, but there was something else that he wanted to ask, "Is there a chance my powers can affect more than my legs?"

Narukami casually said, "It is too early to say. It is possible if you continue to training and gain a stronger grasp on your powers, they might be able to expand to the other areas of your body as well. However, that would require a great deal of training and experimenting to make that possible." Narukami smiled and Yuudai and seemed to already know the answer to his question, "Are you up for it Yuudai-san?"

Yuudai said both proudly and with strong conviction, "You bet."

/

Before Yuudai and Narukami knew it, it was time for them to call it a day. However, Yuudai noticed that Narukami was getting ready to handle something else. "What are you going to do now?"

Narukami explained, "I just got done with a project the other day, and I was just given another to complete immediately. I will be pulling an all-nighter on this one."

Yuudai realized that he had been keeping Narukami from his other assignment and sheepishly apologized. "I'm sorry. All that time you spent with me must have taken a lot of your work time away from you."

Narukami waved his hand, "Don't worry about it. I am more than pleased to spend time working with Espers who want to take the initiative in their development."

Yuudai asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Narukami chuckled, but he was appreciative of the offer, "Not really. Just come to see me in two days, and we can get started on the next phase of your training."

Yuudai felt a little awkward about just leaving Narukami like this, but he decided to do as he was told. "All right good night."

"Good night Yuudai." It was unfortunate that this would be the last time they would ever meet.

/

Yuudai figured Ai and Touma would probably be back soon, so he decided to walk to the main entrance to greet them. On his way there, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him, "Good evening Yuudai."

Yuudai turned around and saw the voice belonged to Megane. Yuudai did not know what was more surprising. The fact Megane was out of his room or the fact Megane decided to initiate a conversation with him. Yuudai returned the greeting, "Hey."

Megane cut the small talk and got straight to the point. "I hear you have officially become an Esper capable of demonstrating an ability. Congratulations, but this means we have something important to discuss."

That caught Yuudai off guard. "Thanks I think. What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Not here come with me." After Yuudai and Megane were in a more private location, Megane said, "You are probably wondering why I know about your Esper development."

Yuudai was curious about that, but he could feel there was something more to this, "Sort of."

Megane said in a matter of fact tone, "To be honest, I have known about your potential for quite some time. However, I have also noticed your regular trips to Narukami-san's lab. It was easy to guess what you were doing."

Yuudai was completely confused, "What do you mean you have known about my potential? I only started noticing it several months ago myself."

Megane said in a causal tone, "I knew it because of your grades."

"My grades?" Yuudai knew that his grades have been high, but he never thought it could a sign that he had the potential. "You mean my Esper related subject grades?"

Megane explained, "Correct. While it is possible for normal humans to understand those topics, such as the scientists in Academy City, the material clicks easier with those that have a greater potential to be Espers, namely you and your friend Ai."

Yuudai's eyes opened up widely, "You think Ai has a strong potential too?"

Megane answered, "Yes. That also goes for some of your other friends, such as Chie and Kanji."

While this all seemed good, something seemed off to Yuudai, "What exactly do you mean by 'potential.' I thought in Academy City everyone has a chance to gain abilities as long as they work hard."

Megane seemed amused by what Yuudai said, "You don't honestly believe that do you?" Yuudai's facial expressions answered that question. "While it is true that hard work is a factor, you must have noticed that the scientists love to play favorites. Like that Misaka Mikoto your friend always talks about. If even half of the things your friends said are true, it would be like she is getting the royal treatment and her powers are getting more powerful."

Yuudai remembered something Touma had told him earlier. "Touma did say her father makes a lot of money. Couldn't that just be because her father might be paying some of the scientists extra money?"

Megane did not buy that excuse. "That is a possibility, but that would cause an inconsistency."

"What do you mean?" Yuudai said with a confused voice.

Megane explained, "I know of quite a few rich students who are attempting to become Espers as well. However, the amount of attention they receive from scientists has sometimes paled in comparison to some relatively poor students who have demonstrated stronger abilities."

While Megane might be on to something, Yuudai could not help but wonder, "How do you possibly know this stuff?"

Megane said with a smug tone, "I am just very good at digging up this type of information."

"You mean you're a hacker?" Yuudai asked in a somewhat accusing manner.

Megane brushed off Yuudai's accusations, "Such details and labels are unnecessary. Regardless, the end result leaves me to believe there is a special factor that the scientists know about but refuse to acknowledge publicly."

Yuudai decided to press Megane for more information, "If that is true, what does that mean for us?"

Megane said in a cold tone, "Well we are obviously considered to be not worthy of their time. However, I doubt we should stay here because there is nothing to be gained staying here."

Yuudai said in a somewhat angry tone, "Then what are we suppose to do? This is our home."

Despite Megane's general tendency to not care about his fellow Child Errors, he did appear to be empathetic to Yuudai, "Well I can see you still have ties here, so it would be useless to try to convince you without you talking to those friends of yours. I suggest you speak to them about this, and I would advise you to take what I said with the upmost seriousness." With that Megane took his leave, and Yuudai continued on his way.

Before Yuudai had a chance to speak with his friends about his newly developing Esper powers or what Megane had brought to his attention, he was distracted by what his friends wished to talk about. They both wanted to discuss their pasts, so there would be no more secrets between them. Yuudai figured it would be best to wait until after they talked about their pasts before he told them anything more.

/

While Ai, Yuudai, and Touma were exchanging stories of their past, Botan was causally watching the entrance. It appeared to be just another night until Botan noticed that five individuals who had_ interesting_ facial features were approaching the entrance. Botan was not sure what to expect, so he stepped in front of them before they could enter the Child Error Facility. He politely asked them, "Are you here to visit someone? Visiting hours at this facility are almost over."

The man with black and red hair said with a causal shrug, "Not really." He immediately pulled out his switchblade and cut Botan's throat before he had a chance to react.

One of Yuudai's friends Amada Chidori was there to witness what happened and gave a bloodcurdling scream that echoed throughout most of the Child Error Facility.

The knife wielder causally said to his henchmen, "Fudo shut that brat up." He then proceeded to lick the blood off his blade.

The man referred to as Fudo responded to the man's request, "Sir!" and activated his Esper power which allowed him to create a fire ball in his hand. He then shot directly at Chidori causing the flames to consume her in mere seconds.

"HELP ME! HELP ME!" Chidori desperately shouted out before she fell to the ground and died. Both Botan's and Chidori's deaths were only the first to happen that night. With that, the Child Error Facility massacre began.

/

Narukami heard the yelling and came out to investigate. It did not take too long for him to see what was happening. Narukami said in disbelief, "What the hell is this?" He could not believe what he was seeing. There were rouge Espers attacking the Child Error Facility and massacring everyone they saw regardless of whether they were Child Errors or workers.

He immediately tried using his cell phone to contact the Anti-Skill but he was not getting through. It was as if something was blocking any possible signals from within the Facility. Narukami then noticed that one of the Espers was using a fire ability and the sprinkler system was not activating at all. That was enough for Narukami to realize the horrible truth of the situation. Narukami thought, _"That bitch."_ This was not just a random attack by some rouge Espers. It was a planned assault, and it was meant to kill everyone inside.

The fact the fire alarms were not going off and reception was cut off was enough proof in Narukami's mind that these Espers must have been hired or given consent by the people running this facility or someone high up on the chain of command to kill everyone here. Narukami realized what that voice meant by all those comments, such as him helping the Child Errors to developing their abilities was a waste of his time and his talent.

"_That's why they wanted me to complete that part of the project before today. They wanted to kill me as well. They must have seen my attachment to the Child Error's as something unnecessary and want me out of the way."_

Narukami also realized that almost all of the staff that was here were people that were friendlier to the Child Errors, such as Oshiro Botan. If they were still alive after this ordeal, they were more likely to create a ruckus about what happened while the staff that were more apathetic to the Child Errors were less likely to make a big deal out of it. These people wanted not only the Child Errors dead but their sympathizers as well.

"_With all of us dead, there will be no one other than Anti-Skill that will care about what happened here. With me dead as well, there will be no one here that will know the work I did for Project Zero-Beta. Since I am just a liability to them now, they wanted me to complete my part of the work for that project before they killed me."_

_Project Zero-Beta is capable of helping so many Level Zeroes throughout Academy City, but it still has too many flaws. The other scientists said, they would take care of it, but now I can see what they will really do with it. In its current state, Project Zero-Beta will only be good for killing many people including the subject. That must have been their intention all along. They never cared about fixing the error in the first place because the error will benefit them more than in its true state."_ It had only took Narukami fifteen seconds to put all of this together to understand.

"_I might not be able to do anything, but I think someone else can."_ Narukami wrote something on a few pieces of paper and ran out of the office.

/

About a minute before Ketsueki's gang arrived at the Child Error Facility. Minato and Rise were playing a game of chess while Shinjiro and Chie watched. They were curious whether the meek intellect or the analyst would win. The two of them seemed to be having a real "clash" of the minds. Neither side seemed like it was ready to throw in the towel until Rise seemed to react to something and dropped the chest piece that was in her hand.

The fact Rise had dropped a chess piece was enough to catch everyone's attention because it was out-of-character for Rise to lose her composure suddenly. Shinjiro asked with a concerned tone, "What's wrong Kobayashi-san?"

Rise said with a terrified voice, "We are being attacked!"

Before anyone could respond they heard a scream from a familiar voice. Chie said, "Was that Chidori?"

Rise appeared to become sick to her stomach and fell to her knees. She said in a mixture of sadness and terror, "Chidori is gone. I can't feel her presence anymore." Before they had a chance to ask her what she meant, Rise put it bluntly, "She's dead."

This was due to the effects of Rise's Esper ability, "Detector." If Espers enter within a certain radius of her position, she will detect him or her. She can detect anyone who has been put through the Esper development program, including Level Zeroes. The stronger the Esper in her 'radar' the stronger the 'signal' she would receive. She could also determine the Esper's approximate locations and if she was familiar with the Esper, she could know who he or she was. Additionally, if she could have visual contact with the Esper, she could analyze their abilities and weakness within a seconds. She does not need to physically view the Epsers herself. She could view them through a camera as well as long as it was through live footage. Her powers would not work if she was viewing archive footage.

Unfortunately, despite the benefits of this power, Rise was incapable of turning it off. While depending on how much energy she uses, she could increase or decrease the radius of her powers. However, the default range would always be several hundred yards from her position. While she had been able to cope with this thanks to Narukami's guidance, she was not prepared for what she was feeling now. While the screams throughout the Child Error Facility were enough to indicate what was going on, she could feel each and every one of her friend's presences disappearing.

All Rise could do was tell her friends, "We have to get out of here now, or else we'll be killed too."

Shinjiro did not want to turn tail and run, "Can't we fight them?"

Rise urgently told them, "If there was only two of them, possibly, but there are five. We don't have time to come up with a strategy. We need to run now!"

Chie asked, "What about Kanji and the others."

Rise pointed to a hallway, "If we take that path, we should run into Chie on our way to the exit. Everyone else is on their own."

"But that's . . .," Chie understood Rise was thinking logically and about survival, but leaving their friends behind did not sit well with her.

Rise knew what Chie was thinking, "I don't want to leave them behind either, but we need to leave now or else we will all die." Shinjiro and Chie reluctantly agreed to Rise's assessment. However, that was not enough for Minato.

"In that case, you guys go on ahead. I'm going back for Yukari."

Shinjiro said in protest, "Miyake-san there's no time. We . . ."

Before Shinjiro said another word, Minato firmly said, "I'm not going to leave here without her." He quickly wrote on a piece of paper, "Here go to this address and wait for my arrival. If we don't' make it there in two hours, assume the worse and run." He handed the paper to Chie and ran.

Rise said to Minato, "Yukari is still in the East end. She appears to be getting chased by one of them."

Minato shouted back to Rise, "Thank you," He then sped off in that direction.

/

Yukari was like a deer in the headlights. She had been running away from the Esper who had started attacking the child Error Facility and started wiping everyone out indiscriminately. That was until one of them had cut off their escape. He was the man with the burned face. As he activated his fire powers the man said, "My name is Fudo and it is my job to BURN YOU ALL TO A CRISP!" He lunged forward and grabbed Yukari's friends Fuuka and Daishiro, slammed them to the ground, and burned them alive.

All Yukari could do was watch her friends burn to death in front of her eyes while they screamed in agony. The only source of water she had was the water bottle in her hands, and that would not have been enough to save her friends no matter how much she tried. The only thing Yukari could do was watch her friends die. When Fudo began to approach her Yukari said in a voice filled with fear and disgust, "Money?! You're killing all my friends for money?!" As she was saying this, she was slowing stepping backwards.

Fudo was too pig-headed to notice what Yukari was doing. He said in a smug tone, "We were not here to just wipe out your friends but everyone here. I don't care whose your friend and who isn't. It's all the same to me." Yukari was becoming more disgusted of this person by the second. "By the way, I am not only doing this for the money. It's far simpler." Fudo then took his eyes off Yukari and his face appeared to be exhibiting a state of ecstasy, "This is for my personal enjoyment. Hearing the screams of agonizing pain while they die is music to my ears, and the smell of my finished work is satisfying. I'm sure," Fudo began to activate his power, "you are no exception." Fudo threw a massive fireball toward Yukari's position, but there would be nothing there for Fudo to gain satisfaction.

After Fudo threw his fireball, he realized that he not only missed, but he did not hit anything at all. The only thing that was burned was the floor. Fudo realized the girl must have made a run for it when he was going on his rant. He had been 'tricked' again, and he was furious.

It did not take long for Fudo to catch up with Yukari. He was not going to give her a chance this time. He angrily said, "NOW DIE!"

A fireball was racing toward Yukari at an accelerated rate. She could not dodge it nor did she have the ability to defend herself. She braced herself for her death until someone jumped in her way like a shield to protect her from the flames. When she opened her eyes, she saw that her savior was none other than Minato using his Esper ability, 'Body Hardener.'

Minato's Esper ability, 'Body Hardener,' allows him to produce a protective shield on top of his skin. Unfortunately, since his powers were only at Level Two, he was currently only able to maintain this for brief periods of time. Luckily for him, his power reached its limit by the time the fireball had dissipated, but his shirt had caught a few flames.

When Minato was hit by Fudo's attack, Minato was able to get a brief look at the attacker. Minato thought to himself, _"This ability and the atmosphere this Esper gives off. Where have I seen this before?"_ Suddenly, pieces of Minato's memory began to flash before his eyes to a day he wished he could forget. After realizing who this man was, Minato was terrified, _"No. This can't be. Not him. I need to get us out of here. Now!"_

When Yukari saw Minato's shirt was on fire, she sprung into action and used her own Esper ability, "Water Manipulation." She assured Minato, "Don't worry it will be okay." She used the water from her bottle to put out the flames. Unfortunately, her ability was only that of a Level One, and she was not strong enough to pull the water out of the sprinkler system. She had tried earlier, but failed.

Minato quickly said, "Thanks," then he grabbed her hand and said, "Let's go." They went through the door that Minato had emerged from. Yukari never noticed that door before, but she figured she was too panicked before to have noticed. She decided it would be a waste of energy to think about it and it would be smarter to follow Minato's lead and run.

Fudo had witnessed the scene in front of him and grinned, "Do I smell a little puppy love between those two?" He chuckled a little, "Well that just makes things more fun now doesn't it. The sound of couple's screaming together in death is so much more pleasing than killing them separately." Fudo then continued his chase of Minato and Yukari screaming, "I'm going to treasure every moment!"

/

Rise, Shinjiro, and Chie had managed meet Kanji on their way out of the Child Error Facility. They were able to convince him that they needed to get out of there as quickly as possible or they would lose their chance to escape. Before they reached the exit, they ran into Narukami. Since Narukami did not go through the Esper development program, Rise would not be able to sense his presence.

The first words that came out of Narukami's mouth were, "Are you guys all right?"

Shinjiro said, "We're fine, but things aren't looking too good for everyone else."

Narukami looked around and asked, "Where's Yuudai, Minato, Yukari, Yuki, and Chidori?"

Rise answered that question, "Chidori's dead, Minato and Yukari are being pursued by one of the attackers in the gym area, Yuudai appears to be with his other friends, and I think Yuki managed to escape, but I'm not sure."

Narukami was saddened to hear about Chidori's death, but decided to focus on who was alive. "Okay then. I will go help Minato and Yukari and you guys get out of here."

Kanji said, "But you don't have any powers at all Narukami-san. How are you going to survive this?"

Narukami said, "You are both kids and my test subjects. You are my responsibility." He walked up to them and said, "It will be okay. Just focus on getting out okay."

The group was reluctant to leave Narukami alone, but they did as he said. As Narukami walked pass the group, he discreetly slipped a piece of paper into Kanji and Shinjiro's pockets. He figured that at least one of them will notice it. It would be emergency details regarding the Project Zero-Beta as well as a location of where he keeps his back-up information. It was his intention that the Child Errors handle Project Zero-Beta because he knew that if anyone could handle what's to come, it would be them.

/

Narukami managed to find Minato and Yukari just before they were about to be roasted by the Esper known as Fudo. Minato was standing in front of Yukari almost like a human shield to protect her from Fudo, but he did not have enough energy to use his power anymore. He could still run, but running would do them no good in the position they found themselves in now. Fudo merely laughed at Minato's heroic gesture. "You think your body will be enough to protect her from my flames. That is pretty amusing kid. I look forward to burning you both alive."

Fudo began to activate his power when Narukami managed to interrupt him by kicking him the head. Narukami told Minato and Yukari, "Run that way." He pointed in the direction he just came from. "You will find Kanji and several others there as well. You need to get out of here."

Yukari asked, "What about you?"

Narukami grinned and said, "Never mind me. Someone needs to keep this idiot distracted otherwise he will just come right after you. You're my precious test subjects. You are not meant to die here. Just get out of here. Your friends are waiting for you."

Minato grabbed Yukari's hand and started to run, he said to Narukami, "Thanks."

After Fudo got up, he was filled with rage, "Why didn't you decide to run away with those kids?"

Narukami said in a calm voice, "I saw you activate your fire powers before. You're a long distance fighter, so even if I were to run away with them, you would probably be able to kill us from a distance. However, as long as I am here, they should have enough time to get out of your range. In less than a minute, I doubt you will be able to find them no matter how much you try."

Fudo was becoming more annoyed, "I can see you are clearly not one of those Child Errors, but our mission is to kill everyone here, so I suppose you will be fair game then." Fudo activated his powers and charged, "Prepare to die."

Narukami was able to dodge Fudo's attack a few times. Unfortunately, Fudo was able to catch Narukami in his grip, and he was not interested in giving Narukami a quick death. Fudo said with a sadistic look on his face, "How about an arm first," he then burned Narukami's left arm to a crisp. Narukami screamed in pain while Fudo laughed at him. "Why don't we do your leg now?" Fudo proceeded to burn Narukami's right leg, and the results were the same. After Fudo was done getting his enjoyment, "For the finale, how about a little extra well done scientist?" Fudo then created a flame and forced Narukami to shallow it. The flame burned Narukami from the inside, and it would not kill him for quite some time.

Despite Narukami's painful end, his last thoughts were not about the pain. They were of hope. _"Minato, Yukari, I hope you were able to escape and meet up with your friends. It is my wish that you put an end to Project Zero-Beta before the damage it causes becomes irreparable. You are our best chance. I leave it to you."_

Narukami's death was not in vain. Minato and Yukari were successful in escaping from the Child Error Facility and reuniting with the others. Unfortunately for them, their problems were far from over.

/

_**Where we last left Yuudai**_

Yuudai managed to make it into the kitchen, but the Wolf-man was not too far behind. He knew that he only had about fifteen seconds to do something or else he would be eaten alive by that monster. Yuudai knew that as long as that wolf had that nose, he probably would be able to keep tracking him, so he needed to find something he could use to injure that Esper's nose.

Yuudai noticed a chair that he could possible use. As Yuudai quickly ran over to it, he thought, _"I know that I can kick footballs and objects of similar weight, but can I kick a chair."_ However, he knew there was no time to ponder it, _"I guess I will have to find out."_ Yuudai found a hiding spot he could use until the Wolf-man was in an opportune position.

As soon as Ookami broke down the door, he began to sniff to see if Yuudai was in there. _"That brat is in here. I can smell him, but where? I need a few more whiffs." _Ookami took a few steps forward and sniffed the air some more. However, he was not in the perfect position for Yuudai to strike.

Yuudai's was nervous, but his adrenaline was pumping, _"It's now or never!"_ He called out to Ookami, "Here I am you stupid wolf," and then he kicked the chair with all his might at Ookami.

Ookami did not see it coming, the chair came flying right at him, and it hit him right in the face. Then the chair bounced off him, and it hit a nearby pipe. The pipe was damaged by this and gas started to shot right at him. This was more than enough to distract the Wolf-man, and Yuudai was not about to let him have a chance to recover. Yuudai dashed out the kitchen's exit and ran with all his might to escape.

/

After Yuudai bolted out of the exit door, he just kept running and running. Yuudai did not realize Ookami gave up chasing him after the kitchen as he was too scared to look back. He did not stop running until he found an alleyway that he could hide in.

Yuudai was breathing heavily. His mind still had a hard time comprehending what he had witnessed. Yuudai said to himself, "They're dead. Those monsters killed them all." Yuudai kept pinching himself to make sure this was reality. "We didn't do anything, but they killed my friends without hesitation."

Yuudai started to pound his fist on the ground with shame. Yuudai thought to himself, _"I couldn't do a damn thing. All I could think about was getting out of there alive. It was all I could think about. Was I being cowardly or was that how you would expect someone to react."_ Yuudai then said out loud to himself, "Damn it! I just don't know anymore!"

Yuudai's guilty conscious did not end there. _"Now that I think about it, when I split up from Touma and Ai, should I have really sent them down to the janitor's area. I know that building well, so it wouldn't have been a problem for me to find the exit, but Touma might not have known the right way to go. He probably wouldn't have had too much trouble with the kitchen exit."_ Yuudai put his hands to his face, "Damn it! Did I send them the wrong way?!"

Yuudai then took a good long look at his hands. "Did I sacrifice my friends so I could get away?" Yuudai then curled up his hands into a fist. "If they're dead, it will be my fault. They're blood will always be on my hands." Yuudai put his hands down and put his head against the wall. "I guess I would deserve that."

Yuudai fell to his knees and remained there for what seemed like hours. It was cold and snowing, but he did not care. He thought to himself, _"What should I do now?"_ After saying that, it was almost as if he suddenly realized what he needed to do. _"How can that even be a question? I couldn't have been the only one to escape. Maybe Touma and Ai did escape. Either way, just sitting here feeling sorry for myself isn't going to change anything."_

/

For the next few days, Yuudai would check different areas that he, Ai, and Touma had visited. He was hoping that maybe his fiends decided to hide in places that were familiar to all of them. If not he hoped he could at least find some clues. Yuudai considered talking to some of the other Academy City residents if they saw his friends, but he decided not to talk to anyone unnecessarily because it could attract unwanted attention.

While the entire attack may have happened quickly, Yuudai did know that one of those Espers produced fire attacks, but neither the sprinkler system nor the fire alarms activated. Unless that Esper's abilities were made of some kind of special flame that did not activate sprinklers which he doubted, this meant the systems were shutdown. If the sprinklers were shutdown, it meant someone wanted everyone in that facility dead. If he put himself in the limelight he might as well draw a target on his head.

Yuudai made sure to keep a low profile for a few days by taking shelter in an alleyway that he figured not too many people would walk through. He still had some money in his wallet, but it was barely enough for him to purchase a substantial amount of food. When we was about to run out of money, Yuudai felt like was at the end of his rope. He knew that he needed help but he was not sure who he could trust.

While Yuudai was walking in the shopping area, he was so lost in his thoughts that he neglected to pay attention to where he was going. He accidently bumped into a woman and fell to the ground. The woman looked at him with concern, "Are you all right?"

Yuudai looked up at the woman and saw that she was probably in her early twenties, had black shoulder length hair, and was extremely muscular. Her appearance was intimidating to Yuudai and he frantically said, "Yeah. I'm sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention."

The woman tried to calm Yuudai down by saying, "It's all right." While seeing students walking around Academy City was far from unusual, this woman could immediately tell something was wrong. The boy standing in front of her looked dirty and almost as if he was going to keel over from hunger. She asked, "Do you need help?"

"Well I um . . .," Yuudai was not sure how to respond to this woman's question. The current circumstances were unfavorable to him, but he was not sure what his next course of action should be. He thought to himself, _"Should I take a bet and tell this woman I need help or should I look for another opportunity that I can be more certain about?"_

While Yuudai was thinking this, he was approached by three individuals that were wearing Anti-Skill uniforms. These men gave off a strange presence that Yuudai could not put his finger on. Before he had a chance to say anything, one of them asked in a firm voice, "Are you Yamasaki Yuudai?"

Yuudai timidly said, "Yes."

The man then said, "We are members of Anti-Skill and were assigned the task of finding the surviving members of the Child Error Facility and bring them into protective custody. Would you please come with us?"

Yuudai decided to go along with the escorts to their car. They told him that they would be taking to an Anti-Skill headquarters nearby.

/

After driving for a few minutes, the car stopped near an alleyway. Yuudai was suspicious of this, "Why are we stopping here? Isn't the Anti-Skill office still a mile from here?"

One of the men told Yuudai, "There is a secret Anti-Skill base here that we keep out of public view."

Yuudai was not sure whether that could be true or not, but he followed the men for a little bit, but he did not relax his guard. While they were walking he said, "So why do you have an Anti-Skill base located out of the way here? It doesn't seem right to keep it out of the view of the public, especially when they might need help."

One of the Anti-Skills responded by saying, "There are a few things the Anti-Skill needed to keep away from the public eye in order to protect something."

Despite what these Anti-Skill were saying, Yuudai was becoming more uncomfortable by the second. When he saw one of them seemingly going for his gun, Yuudai reacted and kicked the Anti-Skill in the back, and then leapt backwards to attack the other Anti-Skill. He was able to knock the wind out of the man before he had a chance to pull the trigger.

The final Anti-Skill had turned around and was pulling out his weapon as well. The distance between them was about three meters, so there was no chance for Yuudai to close the gap between them before the man had a chance to shoot. Yuudai saw a trash can next to him, and just kicked it in that man's direction. It was more than enough to knock the man off his feet.

This was the first time Yuudai had actually used his powers in real combat. He would not count using this powers on the shape shifter as a fight since he was trying to escape from him rather than engage him in combat. The fact he was able to use his powers relatively well in this situation did give him some hope.

When Yuudai was about to run away from the scene, one of the 'Anti-Skill's' pulled out a needle and jabbed it into Yuudai's back. The needle Yuudai was stabbed with caused him to collapse. It was filled with a drug that would prevent its victims from being able to move or speak. All Yuudai could do was partly move his head, so he could look over his shoulder.

The 'Anti-Skill' who was kicked in the back by Yuudai said with a frustrated tone, "What is with this kid? I thought all those Child Errors were supposed to be Level Zeroes who had very little to no power."

The one who Yuudai had kicked the garbage can at lectured his comrade, "You're an idiot for not reading the report. It clearly said this kid recently awakened his Esper abilities, but he had not been put through the system scan yet, so his actual level hadn't been determined yet. Not to mention he is not the only one to have recently gained a power."

Despite Yuudai's current state, he could clearly hear what they just said. He thought, _"Not the only one. Did some of my friends obtain Esper powers due to their potential like Megane told me?"_

The one who appeared to be the leader said, "Whether he has power or not isn't important. We have been trained to handle various situations, and we still have to fulfill our mission." He then put his knee on Yuudai's back for good measure. The man cocked his silencer and put it right on the back of Yuudai's head. "You know killing kids really doesn't sit well with me, but orders are orders. At least no one will miss you or notice you're gone since you're an orphan." Yuudai was not able to respond to that due to the effects of the drug, but his face made it clear the man's comment pissed him off.

The man's finger was about to pull the trigger, but he decided to say one last thing to the boy. "See ya kid."

Yuudai closed his eyes to brace for the inevitable. The last thoughts in his mind were, _"Ai, Touma, everyone I'm sorry."_

However, no sooner had the 'Anti-Skill' said his execution line when someone kicked the man in the back of the head. He fell to the ground and dropped his gun. The other two hound dogs were so fixated on Yuudai's execution that they did not pay attention when their attacker approached them. Yuudai was only able to look over his shoulder to gaze upon his savior. It was the woman he bumped into earlier.

/

_**Twenty minutes earlier**_

After those three men introduced themselves as Anti-Skill, the woman was immediately suspicious of them because she did not recognize any of them. She was a member of Anti-Skill herself, but she was off-duty, so she was wearing civilian clothes. While she had not met every member of the Anti-Skill, she felt there was something off about these men. They did not give her the same vibe as other members of Anti-Skill would.

The woman decided to obey her instincts and she followed the men. She was able to tail their car on her motorcycle, and she was able to avoid appearing too conspicuous, so they did not notice her. Unfortunately, as soon as they entered the alleyway, she knew this was bad. If she followed them into the alley way, there was a good chance they might hear her. She did have her handgun and some handcuffs, but she would still be at a disadvantage if it came to a confrontation.

As luck would have it, the kid seemed to realize something was wrong, and he started to attack the frauds. The kid was actually putting up a good fight which impressed the woman. She thought, _"Not bad kid." _She used this opportunity to sneak into the alleyway in case the kid needed help.

It was definitely a good move on her part because the kid was subdued and at the mercy of those thugs. As soon as she saw the man pull out a silencer, she knew the time for action was now. She ran to attack the would-be killer and succeeded in her attempt to save the kid. She knew she could have used her handgun, but something instinctively told her taking down these frauds quickly and quietly in order to avoid drawing attention was more important.

The woman had heard everything the men said, "So your mission was to shoot a little kid in the back of the head? You must be so proud and brave to do this," she said in a mocking and sarcastic manner.

One of the frauds said defensively, "Shut up," and he started to pull out his weapon.

The woman was much faster than the man anticipated. Before he had a chance to use his gun, she ran up to him and hit his throat. The man was stunned by this move, and the woman proceeded to punch his gut as well. The final would be assassin pulled out his gun. Before he had a chance to fire, the woman literally threw the other man right at him.

The two would-be assassins collided with the wall. The last one was still barely conscious, but the woman refused to give him a chance to recover. She then kicked him in the head and he was out like a light. After the woman was certain all three hostiles were neutralized, she checked to see if the kid was okay. She was relieved to see that the kid appeared to be fine, but it looked like he need a little more time to recover from the drug he was injected with. While the kid recovered, the woman handcuffed the men, and she made sure they would not be able to pose a threat.

/

The drug wore off after a little while and Yuudai was able to move and talk again. The woman asked the boy, "Are you all right?"

The boy was still breathing heavily due to the toll the drug had taken on him. He graciously told her, "Yeah thanks to you. You saved my life."

"It was my pleasure. It is my duty as an Anti-Skill after all."

"So you're the real thing this time. You're not some fake right."

The woman chuckled at Yuudai's paranoia. She assured him, "Of course not. I want to help you, but I need you to tell me everything that is going on."

Yuudai was suspicious of that last part, "You haven't called for back-up yet?"

The woman explained herself, "Ordinarily I would, but there seem to special circumstances in this case. It might not be in your best interest to be taken into Anti-Skill custody if people were willing to disguise themselves as Anti-Skill in order to kill you."

"Thanks I was thinking the same thing." He then looked over to where he attackers were restrained. Yuudai nervously asked, "They won't be a problem right?"

"Unlikely. They won't be waking up anytime soon. Besides, I handcuffed them, so they will remain incapacitated. This will give us all the time we need. Please tell me everything that happened during the Child Error incident." The woman then seemed to realize something. "Although I guess we haven't been properly introduced first."

Yuudai decided to take the initiative in the introductions, "My name is Yamasaki Yuudai"

The woman followed suit, "My name is Teshio Megumi."

/

**Omake**:

Accelerator and Hamazura are filling in the positions this time.

Accelerator: I'm here again! You've got to be kidding me!

Hamazura: Well a lot of people apparently liked our previous appearance in the Omake section, so the author decided to give us some more screen time.

Accelerator: DAMN IT! I'VE BEEN DEMOTED TO A DAMN EXTRA!

Hamazura: Well I can't exactly say that this is exactly pleasing to me either, but we are being paid for this, so let's do the best we can.

It appears that Hamazura has struck a nerve with Accelerator after that last comment.

Accelerator: What did you say? You're being paid for this?!

Hamazura: (nervously) Of course I am. Don't tell me no one told you that we are suppose to be getting paid.

Accelerator becomes far more demonic than ever before! Warning bells are ringing for evacuation!

Hamazura: Wait a minute Accelerator. We can talk about this like reasonable individuals. We should . . .

Accelerator activates his awakening power

Hamazura: ACCELERATOR! NO! RUN! EVERYONE RUN!

Accelerator destroys the entire set!

/

**Author Notes**: Well as you can see Yuudai survived the ordeal of the Child Error Facility incident. I placed a few hints in a few of the chapters that would indicate that was most likely the case. My favorite hint was the kitchen scene right before Fudo incinerated himself. I was hoping some people would think there was a connection between the gas leak and the fact Ookami did not seem completely composed when he returned to his teammates earlier.

It was my decision from the beginning that I would have Yuudai survive, but I found it difficult to make that possible. When I was originally writing Part III for Birth of the Devil, I realized the best execution would to have them be separated. It's a technique writers use all the time when they write their plotlines, so I figured I would make use of it as well.

Regarding the powers of Rise, Minato, and Yukari, I had the idea for their powers from several different sources. I gave Rise the power of "Detector" based on the Persona 4 Rise's power. She would not really be like Takitsubo Rikou's AIM Stalker because Rise can only detect Espers within a certain distance of her location and cannot actively track down Espers outside her range. For Minato, his "Body Hardener" power was based off Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist. Since Ed was able to determine Greed's power scientifically, I figured this was fair game. Finally, Yukari's power of "Water Manipulation" was based on something that was said in the Railgun manga. According to what Wannai Kiuho said in the localized versions of the manga, having such a power was not too unusual. At one point, I considered giving this power to Ai, but I ultimately decided against it.

When I was first creating the characterization of Keisuki's gang, I found Fudo to me the most despicable. While all the other members are killers, Fudo takes it even further. As you saw in Chapter 3, Fudo accidently killed Miki, the least evil member, and he did not care. Unlike Fudo, while the other members do not exactly like each other, they are not "team killers," and they try to avoid that. Additionally, the rest of Keisuki's gang are not interested in killing others unless they are being paid, but Fudo would kill almost anyone for pleasure if he did not receive strict orders to avoid such activity. Out of the entire gang, I consider Fudo to be the most depraved and evil which makes his karmic death more enjoyable for me.

I have a feeling some of you might be wondering why Aliester or other scientists would be willing to let potential Espers die rather than using them. As we have seen before, they have more or less presented themselves as being the type that wouldn't care what happens to some Espers as long as they have "reserves" or something better in their possession. While Yuudai and some of his friends have the potential to become decently powerful Espers, their powers are either not essential to Aliester's plans or there are other Espers with similar powers but at a higher level. As a result, Aliester and the other scientists would not care what happens to a few of their disposable lab rats.


	11. Story III: Tales of a Child Error Part 3

**Author Notes**: As you can see, we have a cover page for this story now. I asked the talented "Princesswanted" of Deviantart to draw this for me, and she did a fine job again. In addition to this, she has also provided concept designs for Yuudai, Ai, and a childhood Touma based on the descriptions I have given her. She is truly a gifted artist, and I thank her for her drawings.

The time has come to put an end to the penultimate story before the direct sequel for "Birth of the Devil." Writing a story with another character as the protagonist has been a lot of fun, and this will not be the only time I will do it. There will be several stories in the future that will give other characters their "Day in the Limelight." That will have to wait until after the following side story's completion.

However, I believe all of these stories will be important in the long run. They will all be connected in one way or another, and it is always fun to see how other characters shape up the plot as well. After all, Touma may be the main character but even Kamachi Kazuma-sensei has said there are plenty of things happening in the background that Touma is unaware of.

I hope you enjoy the conclusion for "Tales of a Child Error," and I hope you will leave a review. I would greatly appreciate it.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Side Story III – Tales of a Child Error

Part III (Final) – Revelations

/

The truth is bitter

But it is better to know

You need to accept

/

The Anti-Skill set up a perimeter around the scene. The Anti-Skills were getting ready to transport the frauds into custody while Teshio gave her statement.

Teshio explained to her fellow Anti-Skill, "I saw those men were ready to execute the poor kid, but I was able to intervene in time. However, by the time I was finished fighting and handcuffing them, the kid was gone." Teshio then scratched the back of her head, "I can't really blame him. He was probably too afraid of what might happen next."

The questioning Anti-Skill asked, "Do you have any idea of where the kid ran off too?" For some reason this Anti-Skill was wearing her helmet, so Teshio could not clearly see her face, but Teshio decided not to question the woman. Teshio figured it was the woman's preference to wear her helmet out in public, so the civilians would not be able to recognize her.

Teshio crossed her arms and said, "No idea. I only met the kid, so we didn't have a lot of time to exchange pleasantries. I don't even know his name."

The Anti-Skill decided to keep pressing Teshio for information, "Do you remember what he looked like?"

Teshio said with a straight face, "I was too distracted by how filthy he looked to pay attention to anything else. My impression was that he had been living on the streets for a while."

While the Anti-Skill seemed to believe Teshio, she was clearly not satisfied with that answer. "I see."

Without needing the Anti-Skill to ask another question, Teshio said, "After this incident, I doubt that the kid would be willing to approach any Anti-Skills in the near future."

Even though the woman figured Teshio probably did not know the answer to this question, she asked it anyway, "Do you have any idea why these men would go to such lengths and pretend to be Anti-Skills just to kill that kid?"

Teshio scratched the back of her head again and said, "I have no idea. I decided to save the kid first and ask questions later."

/

After the three fake Anti-Skill were placed in the Anti-Skill van the helmet wearing Anti-Skill who was questioning Teshio entered the van as well. The prisoners talked amongst themselves for a little while not realizing they were being driven off course. After a little while, the van came to a stop.

One of the frauds fearfully said, "Why did we stop? We're not there yet! HEY!"

The Anti-Skill who was still wearing the helmet said, "So you failed to kill the little brat."

The prisoners realized the voice belonged to someone they did not want to see again anytime soon. One of them said, "That voice . . . oh crap!"

The Anti-Skill removed her helmet and revealed her face. It belonged to none other than Therestina Lifeline. "I hope you realize the consequences of that!" The malevolent look in her eyes would be enough to scare anyone.

All three of the fake Anti-Skills were terrified. One of them even said, "NO! Anything but that! Please give us another chance! Please!"

/

An hour later, Teshio was finally able to leave the scene, and she returned to her apartment. It was a spacious and luxurious. Being able to live in fine apartments such as these was one of the perks of being an Anti-Skill.

While they are not paid for their Anti-Skill duties, they are allowed to live in these apartments rent free. However, in order to make a living, Anti-Skills generally have to work at another job. There are Anti-Skills, such as Yomikawa Aiho who also works as a teacher. After arriving in her apartment she said, "You find the place all right kid?"

Yuudai walked up to her with a much cleaner appearance and said, "It was not a problem."

/

_**Two hours earlier**_

Yuudai had told Teshio everything he knew about what happened during the attack and his suspicions that someone may have been in on it. Yuudai also explained that it was his fault that his friends might be dead. Tears swelled up in Yuudai's eyes. After finishing his explanation, the tears finally began to trickle down his face. "As far as I can tell, I'm the only one who escaped." Yuudai never cried so hard in his life.

Teshio pitied the poor boy because there were similarities in their backgrounds. Unfortunately, she was not used to dealing with children, so she was not sure how to console Yuudai. While pondering this, she remembered something that might help, "You were not the only one."

Yuudai was confused by this, "Huh?"

Teshio said in an optimistic tone, "I remember the report regarding that incident. It indicated that there were a fair number of Child Errors that were unaccounted for. There is a chance your friends may have escaped."

Yuudai began to look hopeful, "Do you really think so?"

Teshio chose her words carefully. If she said the wrong thing, she would get his hopes up too high, but if she did not say something reassuring, she could make him feel worse. "I definitely think it is possible."

Yuudai decided to accept what Teshio told him, "Thank you. I will begin my search at once."

Before Yuudai had a chance to leave he was stopped by Teshio, "I am not going to let you do this alone." Teshio patted Yuudai's head, "I'll help you to the best of my ability. It would be very irresponsible and inhumane of me to ignore your plight right?"

Yuudai was almost speechless and barely able to mutter, "Thank you."

"It's not a problem." Teshio quickly wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it along with a key to Yuudai. "Do you know where this is?" Yuudai nodded. "Good. You can stay there until we work something out. Now go. I need to make sure these guys are properly arrested." After Teshio gave Yuudai a head start, she called her fellow Anti-Skill to help transport the fake criminals to holding.

Little did Yuudai and Teshio know they were being watched from a nearby building by a rather large man. He chuckled, "Well isn't this an interesting development."

/

_**Present time**_

"It was not a problem. I appreciate you telling me to come here and providing me a spare key." Yuudai sheepishly said, "I hope you don't mind that I used your shower and washing machine."

Teshio immediately assured Yuudai, "I don't mind. You looked like you could really use it." Teshio then realized, "Are those your only pair of clothes?"

Yuudai gravely said, "Yes. When I left the facility, I did not have the luxury of packing my clothes. It was a do or die situation."

Teshio thought about this problem out loud, "This is quite a predicament. It might be too dangerous for you to go out and buy the clothes on your own. If I buy clothes for you, I might attract some unwanted attention as well."

Yuudai was unsure of what he could do to help solve this problem, "So does that mean I will probably need to keep wearing these clothes then?" Yuudai thought to himself, _"There are worst things than that, but if people notice I am always wearing the same clothes, that could also attract attention."_

"Give me a minute. There might be something we can do about this." After thinking this over, Teshio came up with an idea, "I think I have a solution for this, but I am not sure if you will be okay with it."

While Yuudai was open to suggestions, he had a feeling he would not like where this was going, "What is it?"

Teshio was hesitant to say this, but she said it, "All of the clothes of your friends in the Child Error Facility are going to be donated. I could provide a distraction, so you can pick some of the clothes."

Yuudai understood what Teshio was trying to do, and he could not fault her for it. After all, she was trying to help him, but he was understandably hesitant to go along with this. Teshio thought, _"Maybe that was a little too insensitive._" She said, "I'm sorry. That was probably not a good thing to suggest."

Yuudai assured her, "No it's all right. I am the one who put you in this situation. You are just trying to help me. I'll do it. I don't think my friends would hate me for that given the circumstances. However, there is one thing we need to do first if you don't mind."

"What would that be?" Teshio questioned.

"I need to find my friends." Before Teshio could say anything else, Yuudai explained, "You saw what happened with me. I would be dead now if you hadn't saved me. If my friends were successful in escaping like I was, they might be targeted the same way."

Teshio knew Yuudai had a point, but she needed to work out a compromise. If they did not plan this out well, it could put both of them in danger. "I understand. In that case, I will head off to the Anti-Skill office first thing in the morning to see if there have been any possible leads reported and then we will get you new clothes. We can discuss possible strategies for helping your friends after we accomplished both tasks." Yuudai seemed more satisfied by this plan, "After all, it would be recommended that you have a variety of outfits at your disposal when we go out in public. Wearing the same outfit in public might have been one of the factors that drew their attention to you in the first place. When we do this tomorrow, I would recommend you find at least one hoodie sweatshirt. It is cold out, so wearing one shouldn't attract too much attention."

Yuudai could not argue with Teshio's reasoning, "Good point."

/

As promised, Teshio went to the Anti-Skill office the following day, but there were no new leads regarding the unaccounted for Child Errors. She did find out that one of Yuudai's friends, Sasaki Ai, was among the list of known casualties. However, Teshio also found out that the one known as Kamijou Touma was not on either list. Apparently, he was listed as 'transferred' several months ago which contradicts what Yuudai had told her. If that was not enough, Teshio found out a different piece of vital information. Teshio causally asked her fellow Anti-Skill, Saigou Ryouta, "What happened to those Anti-Skill frauds I put away?" 

Her associate was hesitant to answer the question, but he finally worked up the nerve to tell Teshio, "I don't know how to say this, but they are all dead."

Teshio was shocked, "What?! How did this happen?"

Ryouta said in a grave voice, "They apparently took some kind of suicide pill on their way to holding."

Teshio could not believe what she was hearing, "You have got to be kidding me."

"I am sorry but I'm not. These reports and the autopsy confirm it." Ryouta then handed Teshio the documentation.

Teshio feverishly looked at the reports and thought, _"Something's not right. After I handcuffed them, I checked to see if they had anything like that at their disposal. Even if they did have something like that hidden away, the looks in their eyes didn't indicate they would even consider suicide. However, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since they were cowardly enough to try and kill a kid, but something still doesn't add up."_

/

Teshio and Yuudai's plan to secure more clothing for him was successful. While Teshio was able to occupy the workers' attention, Yuudai was able to sneak into the room where all the Child Error Facility clothes were. He took enough, so he could have a variety of outfits at his disposal, but he did not take enough that it would cause anyone to notice. Luckily, the workers had not counted the individual clothes yet, so they were less likely to notice some of the clothes were missing.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you so willing to help me?" It's not like Yuudai was ungrateful. He just was not sure why Teshio was so willing to go to such great lengths for him even though she was an Anti-Skill.

Teshio sighed and answered, "I don't really want to compare our pasts, but there are similarities between your past and my own. It made me feel compelled to help you."

Yuudai decided at this time it would be for the best not to pursue this topic any further, "I see."

Teshio knew that she was going to need to tell Yuudai the information she found out about his friends, and it would be better to tell him sooner rather than later. She said to him, "When we get back to my apartment, there is something I need to tell you before we begin our search for your friends."

Yuudai just gave Teshio a nod and followed her back to her place.

/

Shortly after getting settled in at her apartment, Teshio wasted no time and said, "I am sorry to tell you this Yuudai, but your friends Ai, Botan, and Chidori are dead."

Yuudai was barely able to catch his breath. His knees gave way as he fell to the floor. The first words he could muster were, "No! Damn it! No!"

Teshio wanted to comfort Yuudai, but she was not sure how. After waiting for a few moments she said, "I'm sorry Yuudai. I understand how hard this must be for you, but you need to be strong."

After letting the news sink in, Yuudai said, "Thanks. You don't have to worry about me. What about the others?"

Teshio hesitantly told Yuudai, "Well some of the other names you asked me about such as Miyake Minato and Kobayashi Rise, were on the missing list."

Yuudai had some hope in his voice, "So does that mean they are still alive?"

Teshio wanted to avoid getting Yuudai's hopes up, but she had to give him something, "I think it is very possible."

This was more than enough to make Yuudai feel hopeful, but it was not enough to make him get over his guilt for Ai's death. While he still felt miserable about Botan and Chidori's deaths, there was nothing he could have done to help them. It was Ai's death that he felt he played a role in.

After sometime had passed, he said to Teshio, "I knew it was a mistake to send her and Touma down to the janitor's exit. I should have realized Touma would have missed it. It would be really hard for someone who never went through it to notice it. If only, I sent them to the kitchen area instead. I know they would have made it. How could I have been so careless and absent minded? I sent them both to their deaths."

Teshio thought to herself, _"Now we're at another difficult part." _ Teshio informed Yuudai, "Actually regarding your friend Touma, there is no record of him being there."

Yuudai was shocked to hear this, "What?"

Teshio calmly explained, "The records indicate that your friend Touma had not been in the facility for the past six months."

Yuudai was dumbfounded by what he was hearing, "That has got to be joke. We spent almost every day with each other. If you look at the security footage in the Child Error Faculty you will see I am telling you the truth."

Teshio assured Yuudai, "I never said I didn't believe you. I really do. Unfortunately, retrieving any of the footage is impossible given the damage to the facility that was likely the work of an inside man. With everything I have been seeing lately, someone changing the records seems like a perfect way to cover something up. Nothing would surprise me now."

It took Yuudai a few minutes to process everything he just learned. Yuudai thought about what Teshio had said, _"Touma's name was erased from the records. I just can't understand why someone would do that. Unless…"_ Yuudai had come to his own conclusion, "Are you saying that someone may have kidnapped Touma, and they are trying to eliminate any evidence?"

Teshio did not have anything else to say except, "It is possible."

After giving this some more thought, Yuudai said, "It does make sense. I am a witness to Touma's time in the facility. That same person must have wanted me dead, so I wouldn't be able to disprove that report. Besides, I know Touma would never let Ai die, and I know the opposite is true as well. They already killed Ai. I won't let them kill Touma as well."

Teshio was relieved to see how Yuudai was handling this. "For a second there, I was worried that you were going to blame everything on your friend Touma."

Yuudai explained, "You don't have to worry. I don't blame him. At least, I don't blame him yet. I want talk with him to know his side of the story. I need to hear what he has to say. He's still my friend, and I won't consider him otherwise until he himself gives me a reason. I know the time we spent with each other wasn't an act."

/

_Over the next few days, I continued to live in Teshio's apartment. While I wanted to go out and look for my friends, Teshio was able to convince me it was too dangerous to leave the apartment too frequently because I could draw unwanted attention. If people noticed I was staying there, it could cause us some more problems. Instead, Teshio and I would wait until later at night before conducting our searches._

_I remember on one day in particular we were running out of ideas when someone approached us. He was a man that would change our lives forever._

"It would appear you lack a sense of direction. If you are interested, I might be able to help you in that area." This person had a 'bear like' appearance and he approached us from the shadows. "Am I right Teshio-san and Yamasaki-kun?"

Although Yuudai did not show it, this man scared him. Yuudai did not want to seem rude to this person, and risk incurring the man's wrath, but he knew he needed a straight answer. "I'm sorry, but who are you, and how do you know our names?"

"I suppose that was rude of me to not introduce myself first. My name is Saku Tatsuhiko, and I am the leader of BLOCK." He said it in a friendly manner, but it was difficult to tell if he was sincere. "As for the names, that will have to wait for another time."

Teshio's eyes opened wide, and she said, "I have heard of BLOCK before. The original purpose of this group was to keep an eye on the level of cooperation from other institutions outside of Academy City. However, in recent years, rumors have spread the group's purpose has become far less noble."

Saku scoffed at Teshio's remark, "That may be true in the eyes of those ignorant of the true Darkness in Academy City. However, we wish to free ourselves along with many others from this darkness that is caused by the true leader of Academy City."

Yuudai asked, "What do you mean?"

Saku's response was, "This isn't the place to discuss such delicate matters. We may draw unwanted attention to ourselves if we cause too much noise. If you want to know more, you can follow me."

Yuudai asked Saku, "How are we suppose to know you aren't leading us into a trap?"

"You can't. It is just going to have to be a risk you are willing to take." Saku continued to walk off. Teshio and Yuudai reluctantly agreed to follow him.

/

After they arrived at one of Saku's hideouts, Saku decided it was time to continue his explanation, "You may not know this, but the name of Academy City's General Director is Aleister Cromwell. He has all the other Board of Directors wrapped around his fingers, and he could easily replace them if something unfortunate were to happen to any of them. This man is just as much your enemy as he is mine."

What the man said was not too hard to believe. Teshio thought, _"I guess that explains the turnover rate,"_ but she still had to ask, "How so?"

Saku explained in a manner of fact tone, "He is responsible or suspected of numerous incidents that have happened throughout Academy City, including the destruction of the Child Error Facility. However, he is always able to hide his involvement from the public, so only a handful of people know the truth."

This was more than enough to catch Yuudai's attention, "How can one man be responsible for so many events even if he is the General Director?"

Saku explained, "He has been able to utilize his power and influence to use people as chess pieces for years and cares little for them after they serve his purpose. Aleister does not always need to get his hands dirty when he can get plenty of other people to handle the tasks for him. As far as he is concerned, we are all his play things. However, there is plenty more."

Yuudai was almost too scared to ask, "What more could there be?"

"With what I know and what I have managed to piece together, I can tell you we haven't even scratched the surface." Yuudai and Teshio were speechless. They could not even begin to imagine what else there could be. "You'll understand that in all of Aleister's plans, he treats us all as if we were game pieces on a chess board. We are either his valuable pieces, like a knight or a bishop, or a sacrificial pawn. In your case, you are a pawn."

Yuudai was a little angered by that, but he understood that Saku was making a point rather than being outright insulting, "What do you mean? How do you know any of this?"

Saku was not about to divulge his secrets. "I have several informants. One of them told me that your friend Kamijou Touma was the only one who was not suppose to be harmed during the destruction of the Child Error Facility."

Yuudai thought back to what happened. "But I saw how Touma reacted during the attack. He was just as scared as I was."

Saku seemed to expect that, "I don't doubt that. I think their real objective was to bring Touma under their control willingly while simultaneously giving him motivation."

Yuudai was unsure of that last part. "Motivation?" 

Saku explained with a slight hint of disgust in his voice, "People are more capable and willing to accomplish tasks when they have the proper motivation to do so. Unfortunately for you, that motivation came at the price of you and all your friends. This motivation Aleister wanted to use with your friend has been years in the making."

Yuudai was unsure of how to respond to his. He was not even sure how to process this. "I don't get it. What do you mean 'years in the making?'"

"Take a look at these." Saku handed Yuudai a number of documents. "These are records of the kids that were registered to live in the Child Error Facility for the past ten years. Until two years ago, your facility had continually registered a rather large number of new residents. As you can see, after your friend Touma started living there, the number of new arrivals quickly dropped to zero."

Yuudai looked over the records over and over again, and he could see that Saku was absolutely right. Yuudai did notice himself that the number of new residents that came to live in the Child Error Facility dwindled over the past two years, but he did not think much of it. He was fine with the friends he had, and he was enjoying himself. To him, nothing seemed like it was out of order.

Saku continued, "Did you ever think it was strange or were you too busy having fun to notice?" Yuudai did not answer his question, but Saku decided it would be better to continue his point. "Regardless, after your friend arrived, Aleister had finally acquired the new chess piece he desired. When it became apparent the boy was making friends, Aleister decided that there was no need to place anymore pawns in that facility."

Yuudai knew where this was going, and he did not like it in the least. "You can't be saying . . ."

Saku interrupted Yuudai, "I am. You and all your friends were merely sacrificial pawns in Aleister's plan. You said it yourself that you were one of Kamijou Touma's first friends, and he didn't have many others before you. Becoming friends with you was all part of Aleister's plan."

Yuudai was becoming more distressed, "You've got to be kidding."

Saku was brutally honest, "I'm not. In fact, it all makes sense now that you think about it. What better place for someone to get friends than living in a facility filled with orphans who have no families to call their own? It's a place where their only chance at happiness is to band together. Your purpose along with everyone else was to befriend Kamijou Touma and die during that incident to give your friend the motivation to willing participate in their experiments."

Yuudai's voice was becoming more shaken, "How could this Aleister have possibly known Ai and myself would become Touma's friends?"

Saku thought, _"He's probably realized the truth by now, but I need to make sure I get this through to him."_ He said in a grave voice, "I doubt that he did. It was a matter of providing the boy numerous opportunities. Just because you and your fiends were orphans, it didn't mean all of you would become his friends. After all, we can't choose our family or lack of one, but we can choose our friends."

The implications of what Saku was saying was sinking in for Yuudai, "I understand that part, but are you saying that Aleister filled up the Child Error Facility with all of us hoping that at least one of us would befriend Touma?"

Saku answered, "That's exactly correct. Aleister wanted to give your friend plenty of chances to befriend any of you by supplying the facility with plenty of residents by any means necessary."

This struck a cord with Yuudai, "Well I have been an orphan since birth, so I was an easy one, but not everyone else was . . ." Yuudai remembered what Ai told him on that faithful day. She told him she was sold to pay off her family's debt. "Wait a minute. This can't be."

It was Saku's turn to be confused. "About what?"

"I was one issue, but Ai's situation was completely different. She said her parents' were in debt and they sold her off to get out of it." Yuudai was reluctant to ask this question, but he knew he had to. "Are you saying this Aleister could have been the cause of their problems just to get her into the Facility, so she might have a chance to become Touma's friend?"

Based on what Saku knew about Aleister, he figured, "It is a possibility."

Yuudai's voice had a mixture of confusion, anger, and distress, "How could this man go through the trouble of ruining people's lives just, so they can fulfill a single purpose?"

Saku gestured Yuudai to calm down, "I don't know. That is why we need to put an end to the Darkness of Academy City. If you join BLOCK, you will be able to help me resolve our common problem."

Seeing Yuudai was not in a condition to give any answers, Teshio decided to speak up, "How do you plan on doing that?"

While Saku would want to attack Aleister right that moment, he knew at this point it would be suicide, "I need to bide my time for the opportune moment to strike. Unfortunately, we lack the support or the means to conduct an offensive against Aleister. However, we do know his location." This caught their attention. "Have you ever heard of the Windowless building?"

Yuudai had no clue, but Teshio seemed to know.

Saku explained, "The Windowless building is where Aleister resides, but there is apparently no way in or out of the building. The only thing we can do is bide our time and wait for something to happen and find an opening. With all of Aleister's planning, there are weaknesses that we may be able to exploit if we time things right."

Teshio was listening more than Yuudai was. While Yuudai may have understood what Saku was saying, everything was happening too quickly for Yuudai. He was not sure if he should take Saku's offer, but he could not think straight. Instead, Yuudai decided to ask one more question. He asked nervously, "Please tell me. Touma isn't one of Aleister's subjects now is he?"

Saku thought, _"He puts his friend first regardless of what I have said. A good show of loyalty. That's a virtue I will need."_ Saku answered Yuudai's question, "Not at all. It's quite the opposite really. When your friend left the Child Error Facility, he joined up with the Skill-Out. If anything, they would be against Aleister if they were aware of what I know."

"_Thank goodness," _Yuudai was relieved to hear that. "Then what are we waiting for. I need to tell Touma everything."

Yuudai was about to bolt before Saku stopped him. "That would be unwise."

Hearing Saku say that made Yuudai angry, "Why?! He's my friend. Our lives have already been played with enough by this monster. I need to help him anyway I can."

Saku said with brutal honesty, "You will not be doing yourself or him any favors if you try to warn him."

While Yuudai was angry that Saku was denying him his wish, Yuudai was still willing to listen, "Explain."

Saku gave Yuudai a long explanation, and he made sure Yuudai understood every word, "Haven't you realized the difference in your situations? Your friend is in the Skill-Outs, but Aleister is leaving him alone while you're out on the streets and you were nearly murdered. Your friend is probably in a much different place than what was originally part of Aleister's plan, but Aleister must not be worrying about it. Even if everything does not work out as he plans, he is capable of adapting to make the changes work in his favor. You on the other hand are a sacrificial pawn that was suppose to die weeks ago. If you're considered expendable or a liability, Aleister will want to make sure your dead. However, if you stay out of his radar, he might not choose to purse you any further. The very fact you have kept a low profile and befriended the right person are probably the only reason you're still alive."

Hearing this was making Yuudai's apparent uselessness more apparent. He was becoming more disillusioned by the second. Yuudai said, "You can't mean that . . ."

Before Yuudai had a chance to finish, Saku said, "I mean it exactly like that. If you choose to warn your friend of Aleister, chances are you will be killed and Aleister will become aggressive in obtaining what he wants from your friend."

Yuudai was confused, "But I thought he wouldn't harm Touma."

Saku explained to Yuudai, "Aleister won't kill him, but this wouldn't be the first time I have seen what happens to someone when Aleister chooses to take aggressive action. It was not pretty."

Yuudai did not respond, but he did make it clear that he understood what Saku was saying. The only thing he could do was sulk over his apparent uselessness.

/

After their discussion with Saku, Teshio and Yuudai told him they would consider his offer and returned to her apartment. There was an awkward silence the following day. Teshio decided it would be best to let Yuudai rest after being given all that information. It was certainly a lot for him to handle.

Teshio thought, _"It might be a better idea to take this outside."_ Teshio excused herself from the apartment, "Yuudai I am going to go out for some fresh air. Do you think you will be okay?"

Yuudai had a depressed look on his face and said, "Yeah I will be fine."

Outside her apartment building Teshio was talking on the phone. "Did you find out the information I requested Saku?"

Saku responded, "Yes I have."

Teshio had a feeling of what the answer would be, but she asked anyway, "What did you find out?"

Saku said in a grave manner, "I am afraid you were right. I had my sources do a background check on all the Child Errors in that facility. For the Child Errors who were put into the facility shortly after they were born, all of their biological parents are dead. All of them died within a few weeks of placing their children in foster care. Apparently, a few of them regretted their decisions, and they were reversing their decision before it was too late. However, before they could do anything, they died." Saku flipped through the pages of his report, "They all died in ways that would be ruled as an accident or a suicide that wouldn't usually require an intense investigation. The authorities would probably not notice the pattern unless someone had a wider view of the circumstances."

"So the biological parents who unconditionally gave up their kids were murdered to prevent the chance of them possibly changing their minds while the ones in difficult situations were allowed to live because they weren't in a position to demand their kids back." Teshio's voice was becoming darker and sounded more disgusted by the second.

Saku continued to look over his report, "That seems to be the case."

There was something else Teshio did not understand, "Yuudai told me that he is older than his friend Touma. However, according to what you told me, Yuudai's biological parents were killed despite Touma not being born yet. What does that mean?"

Saku could only speculate the reason, "I am not sure. However, we can assume that this Kamijou Touma has something that Aleister desires. He might have known that someone who had what he desired would be born soon or Yuudai's parents were killed for another reason and Aleister's plans for him changed after that Touma boy was born."

"Yuudai told me the only place he remembered living at was the Child Error Facility. Based on what I am hearing, it seems like Touma was Aleister's target from the time he was born." The disgust in her voice had become more apparent as she curled her fingers into a fist. "It sickens me to think that Yuudai and the other Child Errors were being brought into that place for the purpose of getting slaughtered like pigs."

Saku said in his usual tone, "It isn't a pleasant thought, but it seems to be the truth."

Teshio at this point did not care to hide her ever growing distaste for this Aleister. "How could Aleister destroy so many lives just to bring one person into his reach?"

That was another question Saku did not have the answer too. "I don't know. I have had a hard time wrapping my head around this as well. All I know is that he wants to achieve some kind of result that I doubt many of us will be happy with."

A few moments went by without either of them saying anything. Teshio decided to break the silence. "I haven't made a final decision yet, but will you really be able to fulfill your promise. Will you be able to protect Yuudai and help me find answers to my past?"

Saku decided it would be a good idea to set the record straight with their deal, "Well I suppose I would be lying if I gave you any guarantees."

That was enough to satisfy Teshio, _"I suppose no one can guarantee such a thing,"_ Teshio responded, "Fair enough. We'll talk later."

/

As Teshio returned to her apartment, the room was silent and still despite Yuudai's presence, so she decided to break the ice, "I'm proud of you."

Yuudai was confused, "For what?"

Teshio explained, "For not blaming all of your problems on your friend Touma."

"_Oh so that's why," _Yuudai thought to himself. Yuudai said in a depressed voice, "How could I? Touma's a victim too. I know that for a fact that Touma would never sacrifice his friends or anyone regardless of the reason."

Teshio tried to lighten Yuudai's spirits, "Based on what you've told me about him I would agree with that assumption."

Yuudai ignored Teshio's comment. "I can't look at myself as being the only victim here nor should I look to blame Touma for all of these things. It seems to me that if this Aleister was interested in anyone else, he would have done everything the same way. As far as I am concerned, Aleister and all those who work under him are my enemies. I just hope Touma will never become one as well."

Teshio was not sure if she should be sad or happy about this scenario, so she decided to keep a neutral face and let Yuudai keep talking.

"In fact, knowing this has filled me with shame." Yuudai's hands curled up into fists.

Teshio was starting to become concerned, "What do you mean?"

"I haven't told you this, but you are not the first Anti-Skill to save my life. Over a year ago, the three of us were being picked on by these lowlifes, but an Anti-Skill named Yomikawa saved us. Yuudai took a deep breath before continuing. "After she saved us, she told us that we shouldn't have to worry about deciding our futures or becoming stronger for the sake of others yet. She told us to just enjoy our time as kids."

Teshio listened intently to Yuudai's words and did not say a word. She was an acquaintance of Yomiakawa, so she was not surprised that Yomikawa would say this. Yomikawa always did have a soft spot for kids. Teshio figured that was why Yomikawa was a teacher at one of the high schools, so she could be part of the process of helping kids walk on the right path in life.

Yuudai continued what he was saying, "I did try to follow her advice for a while, but I just didn't feel right. Touma and Ai were my best friends. They filled the void in my life, and I wanted to protect them. When I found out I had the potential to be an Esper, I thought this was my chance to become strong enough. I thought with the power that I would be able to keep them away from harm."

Yuudai was beginning to break down. Teshio said with concern, "Yuudai."

"You know what happened just as well as I do. When my first opportunity came to protect them, it was also my last. I tried to act as a decoy, but I failed miserably." Tears were trickling down Yuudai's face, "Now Ai's dead, Touma's just a chest piece to that bastard Aleister, and I can't do a thing. The fact I couldn't save them is bad enough, but knowing there isn't a thing I can do is even worse. I can't even atone for my carelessness that night."

Teshio understood why this was not easy for Yuudai to accept, but she knew that nothing would get accomplished if he wallowed away in self-pity. She said, "Yuudai I need you to look at me."

"Hmm." Yuudai was confused by what she said. When he turned around to look at her, she flicked his head with her finger. "Ow! What was that for?"

Teshio said in a somewhat harsh tone, "To wake you up because you are not going to make any progress by wallowing in your sorrow. There is something that we can do to help your friend."

Yuudai was even more confused now, "What?"

"We can take Saku up on his offer and join BLOCK. If he is successful, we can confront and eliminate Aleister ourselves one day," Saku said with a voice filled with determination.

Yuudai was far from feeling optimistic at that moment, "But how? He can't be touched right? There is no way into the Windowless Building, and if what Saku said was true, Aleister is able to make almost everything and everyone go along with his plans. He sounds like a god."

"Aleister is no god. If he was one, you would be dead." Hearing this remark stunned Yuudai. "Saku said it himself that you were suppose to die in the Child Error Facility, but here you are. The fact you are still alive proves that Aleister is not a god. That means he must have weaknesses that we can exploit. BLOCK may also be able to find an opening or an alternate means of entering the building someday. If we join them, we can avenge your friends, save your friend Touma, and put an end to his plans for good. We can cause a problem for Aleister that will be beyond his ability to adapt."

Yuudai was not sure what to say. "Can we really do it? Can I actually do something?"

Teshio assured Yuudai, "You don't have to worry about your lack of strength either." That remark caught Yuudai's attention. I will train you until you become strong enough. Then we will be able to protect each other." Teshio held out her hand, "Do we have a deal?"

Yuudai accepted her offer without any hesitation, "Yeah. Let's do this."

/

In an unknown laboratory, Kihara Amata was contacted by Aleister. The scientist had a few questions for the General Director. Amata said with an impatient tone, "Tell me Aleister, why have you called off killing the surviving Child Errors? Didn't you want them all eliminated?"

"They were able to escape their execution from your Hound Dogs. It was something I never expected." Aleister seemed amused by this turn of events. "As a result, I believe it would be more suitable to let them live for now. They do not pose any immediate threat to me or my plans. Besides, chasing after them at this point would be more costly than beneficial."

Amata was confused because he knew that a couple of times in the past, Aleister was less than amused by other variations in his previous plans. "They could be a threat to Project Zero-Beta. According to what the old man said, Narukami may have passed information about the project to some of those brats. That was made evident when we went to Narukami's personal laboratory and all of his research notes had already been confiscated."

Aleister did not seem the least bit worried about that. "That is of little consequence. Regardless of what they do, we will still see the final results of the project. Having more capable and willing opponents may provide more interesting results for a project that was never meant to be taken too seriously. The project was only meant to provide more opponents for the Imagine Breaker."

"When you put it like that, having more fights in this experiment will make things more entertaining," Amata said in his usual tone.

Aleister said, "Depending on the final results, we will know if the project is still worth the continued funding or perhaps it will lead to another development. In the end, the excess Level Zeroes who would not have been beneficial to me otherwise would be reduced in number, but there will still be plenty of others to select."

Amata grinned at this explanation. "I should have expected that from you Aleister. You're always able to think of favorable alternative scenarios with little effort."

Aleister explained in his matter-of-fact tone, "It is all necessary in order to yield the desired results. Otherwise, our progress would be more minuscule"

Amata laughed at that, "Can't argue with that."

"Due to this, we need to insure that the project will be ready two years from now for its initial distribution." By the sound of his voice, you would not think he was demanding anything.

Amata asked, "You think they'll be ready to face it by then?"

Aleister answered, "Most likely. Even the Child Errors who are not aware of the project's existence are likely to become strong enough to be worth opponents of the project."

While Amata knew better than to keep questioning Aleister, he still wanted to know what made Aleister so confident, "Why do you think that?"

Aleister immediately said, "Almost all of them will be driven by the same motivation, 'the loss of their precious loved ones.' Needless to say, test subjects who have experienced 'loss' are the most likely to present the most interesting results."

Amata laughed, "Hehehehe. I hope your right about that because I don't want to be disappointed after waiting."

Aleister stated with full confidence, "I'm certain you will not be disappointed in the least."

/

_It has been nearly two years since the Child Error Facility was attacked. I lost all of my friends whether it was to death or it would be too dangerous to meet with them again. I have worried about what happened to the survivors every day. Were they able to escape their pursuers like I was able to or were they killed? I wish I could find out, but I know that wouldn't do anyone any good._

_However, knowing this hasn't stopped me from feeling lonely. I still remember those joyous days at the Child Error Facility like it was yesterday. I remember all the times I ate lunch or played football with all my friends. All of those 'exploration expeditions' of Academy City I had with Ai and Touma. All those times I tried to get Megane to come out of his shell. Always going to the entrance everyday and having a casual conversation with Botan-san. All the laughing, fun, and memories we use to share. That life seems like a dream now. I wish I could go back to it. I would even be willing to sacrifice myself if it meant the others could have this life again, but that's not reality._

_The reality is that most of my friends are dead and everyone else is missing. I am not in a position to go looking for them, and I haven't even been able to visit the grave of my friends. Teshio-nee-chan told me there is a chance an ambush could happen if I went out there. I personally thought it was ridiculous, but she did have a point since they have already used some underhanded tactics before. However, it fills me with shame that I never visited them, but I made sure to send flower to the grave every six months from different flower shops under various aliases. All I could do was watch from a distance as the flowers were delivered to the grave._

_Despite everything, it hasn't been all bad. Teshio-nee-chan has looked out for me like the big sister I never had. She quit her position at the Anti-Skill, and we became full time members of BLOCK. We have participated in numerous missions for BLOCK for the past two years, but according to Saku-san these wouldn't be the kind of missions that would catch Aleister's attention. Despite that, those missions have been dangerous. However, both of us have pulled through because I have watched Teshio-nee-chan's back, and she has watched mine. You wouldn't believe how many times we have managed to save each others' lives. As she promised, Teshio-nee-chan has trained me and I have become more capable of holding my own in a fight even without my powers. However, I am still no match for her. _

_Besides my physical training, Saku-san was able to provide me some assistance with developing my Esper abilities. He was able to recruit a scientist named Fujiwara Seta who was willing to help me develop my abilities discreetly. Just as Narukami-san predicted, I am able to use my powers to make huge leaps, and I am able to do it without causing any noticeable damage to the ground. I will only cause damage when I need to make a massive leap in a speedy fashion. Having that skill has already allowed me to escape from a number of messy situations._

_While I have been developing my abilities and gone on missions for BLOCK, I have continued to wonder what happened to all my friends following the incident. Besides Touma, I have no clue what happened to my friends who apparently managed to escape. Regardless of whether they are still alive or not, it makes me sad that I am powerless to help them either way. All I can do is hope things have worked out well for them._

_During that time, I have also thought about what has been happening to Touma. The only thing I know is that he is a member of Skill-Out now. I can only hope things are going well for him. Although, I guess "going well considering" would be the more appropriate thing to say. I would like to know how Touma has been handling the Child Error Facility incident. Does he think I'm dead? Does he blame me for what happened to Ai? Does he blame himself? Either way I wouldn't blame him. _

_If he chose to blame me, I would accept it because I did play a role in her death even though it was unintentional. If he chose to blame himself, I would tell him it wasn't his fault. I don't know how convincing I can be, but I don't blame Touma for what happened at all. It was Aleister and his subordinates fault. Blaming Touma would be wrong and pointless._

_About a year-and-a-half after the incident, I finally had my answer regarding Touma's activities. There was this new mysterious vigilante that was known as the "Devil" of Academy City. This person apparently targeted Espers who abused their powers and he would generally say something like, "I'll break that illusion of yours" or "I've come to give you bad luck." Most witness accounts seems to indicate this "Devil" was a member of Skill-Out due to usually being sited near "The Strange," and he has sometimes been seen associating with known Skill-Out members._

_After putting all this together, I figured this person was probably Touma. After I found out Touma was listed as a missing person, I was absolutely sure of it. Touma had thought of his own way to combat the darkness of Academy City. Although, I guess the main difference between us is our selection of targets. While I am a part of group that wishes to ultimately eliminate one target, Touma has a much broader target in mind. Touma wishes to eliminate everyone who abuses their powers. _

_I can understand his thinking for that. He probably hopes if he can take down enough of those Espers it will deter others from following the same path, so there would be fewer Espers like the ones who attacked the Child Error Facility I give Touma a lot of credit for attempting to achieve that goal, but I'm afraid it might get him killed._

_Teshio-nee-chan was the only person I could share my theory with, and she believed me. She also promised not to tell anyone else including Saku-san. I wouldn't forget what she said to me, _"It is very possible your paths will cross in the future. Have you thought about what you would do if that happens?"

_To be honest, I didn't. I just wanted to talk to my friend again, _"Not really. There are a lot of things I want to say, but I don't know if I could say them."

_Teshio-nee-chan said, _"I understand. Well I would advise you to come up with an answer soon. There's no telling if or when that day comes."

_I decided to visit the hot baths in the Underground City area in the 22__nd__ District of Academy City. I was able to clear my head a bit, but I was still no closer to coming up with an answer. While I was walking down the street, I heard a familiar voice, _"So Wataru what's so special about this place that you just had to drag us down to."

_I turned around and I briefly saw part of the person's face. His appearance seemed different, but I was sure it was Touma. He was accompanied by two others, a guy and a girl. It immediately made me think of the old times. For a split-second the image of Touma walking with his friends was replaced by the image of when Ai, Touma and myself would walk around Academy City and have all kinds of fun and adventures. Those were days I would always miss._

_I began to reach out to call out to Touma, but I stopped myself. It took everything I could to stop myself. I only got a brief look at his face, but he seemed to be happy. I was glad for him, but I was envious of his friends. They were a part of Touma's world, and I could not be. At least right now I couldn't be._

_I will continue to fight for the day I can walk by my friend's side again and avenge the deaths of my friends. I will give it everything I have, and I won't give up until the day I succeed. I will not fail my friend again. My enemies can count on that._

/

**Omake**:

Touma and Mikoto are standing in a set where everything is still being cleaned up after the last show.

Touma: Hello everyone. I would just like to announce that repairs to our sets have been going smoothly.

Mikoto: The contracts and other matters have been settled with Accelerator, so he will be making more appearances, and as long as he receives half his compensation in advance, he will not be destroying anymore sets.

Touma: Now that that is settled, everyone we need to get into places for the next story.

Mikoto: (Confused about what is going on here) What's going on here?

Touma: Didn't you hear? (Touma hands Mikoto the script) We are finally producing the direct sequel to "Birth of the Devil.

Mikoto: (with a look of a mixture of confusion and eagerness) Really?

Touma: Yes. A number of questions the fans have been waiting for will finally be answered at long last. The author has called everyone back. (Several characters arrive at the set) Komaba-san, Wataru-san, Konori-chan it is time.

Konori: You mean it is almost time for us to come back into the story again.

Touma: That's right. Starting next chapter, it is time to continue exploring what my life was like during my time as a member of Skill-Out.

Wataru: It's about time. It's finally time for us to see some action.

Komaba: When does the author plan on releasing the chapter?

Touma: The author has most of the story mapped out, and he has been working hard on completing it. He plans on releasing a few chapters of the story before the end of this year, and he hopes to release subsequent chapters on a monthly basis starting sometime in 2013. However, if you check out the Index fanpage the author runs on Facebook called, "To Aru Majutsu no Index (Season 1 and 2)" you will see the author will be posting some previews for the upcoming story.

Mikoto: Why doesn't the author release all the chapters all at once?

Touma: That would be bad for review purposes. Not to mention, the process it takes to write these chapters is rather time consuming with the planning, writing, and editing. It is a rather difficult task.

Mikoto: (Looks down dejectedly) Oh. (Mikoto then notices some new arrivals on the set) Wait a minute! Even Saten and Uiharu are here? Wataru and Konori I can understand coming back since this takes place during your time in with Big Spider, but what are they doing here?

Touma: Well the author plans on giving them a couple of scenes during the next story arc.

Uiharu: You don't have to worry Misaka-san. I don't think our scenes will overshadow you.

Mikoto: That is not quite . . .

Saten: The author plans on giving a few scenes to the "civilian crowd" during the next story, and we fit the bill. It is a shame we will probably have minor roles since we are the main characters of the main story, but it is better than nothing.

Mikoto: I guess that makes sense, but what about Kuroko.

Touma: Unfortunately, that probably won't happen. The author seriously can't think of any good ways to add her in the story.

Mikoto: Can't find a way or doesn't want to find a way?

Touma: It's a mixture of both.

/

**Author Notes**: You ever get tired of the times when a character will assume it is their friend's fault that something happened before hearing their side of the story and realize they were wrong in their accusations when it is possibly too late? I sure do. I decided to avoid that kind of scenario this time around and make Yuudai be much more logical and have more common sense than those characters. Besides based on the way Yuudai's character has developed, it felt like it would have been out of character to have had him blame everything on Touma. Additionally, I believe this opens the way for more future plotlines.

For those of you who do not know, Teshio Megumi is a character that appeared in Volume 15 of the original Index Light Novels. Since she has only appeared in one volume not much is known about her except for some vague details about her past. Capitalizing on her "dark past" to connect with Yuudai seemed like an excellent opportunity for me. I always thought she had a lot of potential considering the fact she was a former Anti-Skill, and she seemed like a character that had hidden depths. Since she was not killed, hopefully that leaves things open for her potential return. I would like to learn more official information about her.

Yuudai's personal story has come to an end, and it is time to get started on the direct sequel to "Birth of the Devil." There will be plenty of characters that will be making appearances in the upcoming Side Story, but as you can probably guess, the main characters will be Touma, Wataru, and Konori. Yuudai may or may not be making an appearance during that story. However, there is one thing I will remind you of. While Touma, Konori, and Mikoto are suppose to live to make it to the beginning of the original story, Yuudai lacks any kind of plot armor.

For any of you wondering about the whereabouts of the other surviving Child Errors, that will have to wait until "Tales of a Child Error II," but will not be for a while. As of this moment, the direct sequel to "Birth of the Devil" is currently a work-in progress, and it will take a little longer for it to be completed. There are a number of chapters that are works in progress, and after I complete a few of them, I will release some of the chapters on a monthly basis most likely. That way I can still release new chapters for you guys to read as well as giving me more time to finish the story.

Be sure to leave a review. Anonymous reviews are also welcomed.


	12. Story IV: The Devil's Reign Part I

**Author Notes**: After being on hiatus for months, the time for "Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories" return has finally arrived. Not only that, it is finally time to begin telling the story of Touma's time as the "Devil of Academy" at long last. Starting with this chapter you will begin to learn the answers to what happened during his time as a member of the Big Spider. There are many questions you may have but slowly but surely, you will see what experiences Touma lived through, what fights he had to survive, and what enemies he made. This has been a long time in the making, and I am thrilled to finally begin unveiling it.

As some of you may know, over the past few months, I have been working on a new story known as "Fairy Dance Alternate" that takes place in the Sword Art Online universe. It has been a lot of fun writing that story, and I have been receiving a lot of positive reception, but I promised myself that I would not cancel this story in favor of Fairy Dance Alternate. I have a story I wish to complete here, and I want to make sure it is finished someday.

My current plan I have is to switch between writing for this story, Fairy Dance Alternate, and another story I have been planning on a secondary basis. It will be a while before you learn any information on that other story. Some information will be released during June 2013 and the first chapter will have a release date window of July 2013.

For those of you who wish to openly discuss this story with me and other fans, I have recently opened up a forum topic on the "To Aru Majutsu no Index" fanfiction forum known as "To Aru Series Fanfiction Spot." It is a forum that has not received a lot of attention, but it can easily become much more. All we need to do is increase the participation in that forum. Besides discussing my story, if you are Index/Railgun fanfiction writers, I encourage you to produce topics for your current and future stories. Hopefully, I will see you there.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and provide a review. I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback whether you are a member or a guest. Additionally, if you are a troper, be sure to visit the "Of Science and Magics" TV Tropes page and add your own tropes to go with the story. Finally, be sure to participate in a **poll** that I set up regarding the content of this chapter, so be sure to read the chapter first before participating. I would love to see what two choices you would select.

/

Of Science and Magics – The Side Stories

Story Four: The Devil's Reign – Part I

Chapter Twelve: Rumors Take Flight

/

The time has now come

Everything else was the start

The show must begin

/

Huff . . . Huff . . . Huff

A young teenage boy was breathing heavily as he pushed himself up from the ground. His head was spinning, and he was disoriented from what had happened. It took a little bit of effort, but he regained his balance. He then looked around at the aftermath of the battle that was happening. Academy's 10th District, specifically the area known as 'The Strange,' where he had lived for these past few years had become a war-torn area. The teenage boy was surrounded by fires, rubble, and corpses of fallen enemies. Due to recent events, this district had become a warzone that was filled with despair and destruction.

You would never believe this was the peaceful city that people on the outside always talked about. However, Academy City's Board of Directors have proven to be experts at covering up incidents, and this would be no different. At worse, the city will receive some bad publicity for a time, but in the end this 'war' would be written off as an 'isolated' incident. Very few people would know of the whole truth behind this incident, and it would be swept under the rug. The boy figured that the area had most likely been quarantined to prevent any additional witnesses from knowing the true events of this day.

The person who was at the center of this war was the one who managed to stand himself back up. His name was Kamijou Touma also known as the "Devil of Academy City." He was fourteen years old, and had been waging war on Espers who abused their powers for over a year. Over the course of his reign, he had managed to punish numerous Espers that would have gotten away with their crimes. He wished for retribution for the ones he had lost years ago, but he had also fought to prevent more victims. Unfortunately, despite all the good he had done or attempted to do, this war had come to him several times in recent weeks. He had lost even more now, and he was no worse for wear.

Touma was not really injured from the blast he just survived thanks to his Imagine Breaker, but that did not stop the surrounding explosion from knocking the wind out of him. Due to the blast, his mask was completely destroyed, so his face was exposed to the world. However, that was not his priority.

He knew this war was not over yet, and he still needed to fight. Touma checked his guns, and he could see they were rendered useless. His shirt was torn to pieces as well, so you could see Touma was unusually muscular for someone his age. However, you could also see he had a strange scar on his chest, and there was an identical scar on his back. What could have done this to Touma was anyone's guess.

Although, medical experts would conclude that based on the scar it was not due to impalement because it looked like someone blew Touma's chest apart and sewed it back together. The medical experts would state this injury was the work of an Esper ability. The fact Touma survived such an injury was nothing short of a miracle that would seem impossible for someone of perpetual bad luck.

As Touma looked around it would appear he was the only survivor of this battle. He was grateful that all of the bodies he saw lying around did not belong to his fellow members of Big Spider, but he was still horrified at the sight of them. He could see the looks of agony on their faces. The deaths these people faced were not painless nor were they fast. While these people were his enemies, Touma could not help but feel pity for them.

He thought to himself, _"No one deserved to die like that."_

A voice interjected and caught Touma's attention. The male voice said in a mocking tone, "A truly horrendous sight wouldn't you say?"

The voice belonged to a boy around Touma's age, but the aura that he gave was filled with bloodlust, envy, and hatred. This boy had shoulder-length dirty blond hair and had a cocky smile. The boy wore a dark maroon colored suit that was slightly tattered, and his face had several bruises due to being punched by Touma a few times. This boy was none other than the second strongest Level Five in Academy City, Kakine Teitoku.

Touma glared at the boy and shouted angrily, "Didn't these men come here with you Kakine? Why are they dead? They were fine ten minutes ago."

Kakine was not affected by Touma's words as he casually stated, "Well Devil-san you really shouldn't get angry with me. I had nothing to do with this. These subordinates were given to me as a present by the Kihara's."

Touma's voice did not try to hide his disgust, "The Kiharas really are responsible for this? Those bastards!" He curled his fingers into a fist at the very thought of the Kihara family. "They always think that people's lives are theirs to toy with. I hate every single one of them."

That was something Kakine and Touma did have in common. "You're not the only one that does." Before attacking Touma again, Kakine decided to reward Touma for lasting this long against him. He figured that he could at least confirm a few bits of information. "Apparently, the Kiharas gave these Level Zero Child Errors a little something called Zero-Beta. I think you might have heard of it before or at least seen its effects."

At the mention of the word Zero-Beta, Touma's eyes opened wide at the realization of what Kakine was saying. He read about Zero-Beta in some files earlier, and there were a few incidents when he did see what it was capable of doing to Level Zero Espers. However, there were a few details he was not able to obtain regarding this experiment. Although, it would appear the corpses of these guinea pigs provided a few of the answers for him. It would seem that the only thing that awaited the test subjects was a cruel, untimely death.

Kakine smugly continued his speech, "As you can see, Project Zero-Beta is capable of making Level Zeros useful in combat, but it cuts their life span literally down to zero at the end of its run. It does it in quite a nasty way."

This made Touma even angrier at the Esper. "They were your men Kakine, and you don't care what happened to them?" After he asked that, Touma had to remind himself who he was talking to. "Then again, why am I not surprised?"

Kakine was becoming a little annoyed at this, but he still scoffed at what Touma was saying. "Like I said Devil-san, I am not responsible for this. Quite frankly, even this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I would rather those Level Zeroes to have lived to be my servants or sacrificial pawns for a different excursion rather than having them burned out after causing destruction that I could have done on my own. It's such a waste of precious resources. Nothing can really replace human capital after all."

Touma did not respond to what Kakine said, other than gripping his fists even tighter. It was nearly to the point that his finger nails would cause his hands to bleed. Kakine continued, "Although, this was just a test to see if continuing this research would be worth their time. Considering how they performed against those allies of yours, I'd say it's really up in the air. Although, I have a feeling it will be scraped by the main department. After all, I doubt Zero-Beta is really all that important to them anyway."

Touma was confused by this, but he thought to himself, _"I can worry about that kind of stuff later. Right now defeating Kakine is my priority. If I can do that, this war will be ours. I've already managed to weaken him. I can do this." _ Touma readied himself to fight.

Kakine was amused by his, "You know you should feel at home here Devil-san. We are surrounded by fires and ash. You would almost think we were in hell which is a pretty fitting set-up for your grand fall." The look in Kakine's face changed into something more sinister, and his eyes were full of killing intent. He declared, "I, Kakine Teitoku, sentence you Kamijou Touma to ETERNAL DAMNATION!"

/

_**Fourteen Months Earlier**_

It was the day of Touma's thirteenth birthday, and instead of celebrating this day with his friends, he was walking through a cemetery. The clouds above his head seemed like they were about to begin pouring any second, but that was not enough to stop Touma from doing what he came here to do. He approached the 'Family Grave Stone' that represented all of his friends that died during the attack by Ketsuekiand his gang on the Child Error Facility.

Touma was aware that not everyone died that day and a few of them apparently escaped, but the Skill-Out had already tried to help him learn of any of the survivors' whereabouts. After their search proved to be fruitless, it was presumed they were all dead, including Yamasaki Yuudai. Touma still held onto a grain of hope that at least one of them was still alive, but he understood it seemed unlikely at this point.

After Touma arrived at the grave, he knelt down and said, "Ai. I made a promise to you almost four years ago, and I intend to keep it. I will read every entry that I have written in my journal." Touma pulled out his journal and opened it. "Here we go. This is where our story began. 'It has been one month since I arrived at Academy City. My best and only friend Misaka Mikoto . . .'"

While Touma was reading his journal, he was being watched from the distance by Wataru and Komaba. Wataru sighed and said to his friend, "I had a feeling Touma would come here."

Komaba responded, "I can't really say that I'm surprised either. This is where he made his decision to join Skill-Out after all. Now that he has decided to become a full-time member, it seems befitting he would pay his friends a visit."

"It's not just that. When I saw him burning his old belongings the only things he didn't destroy were the items that involved his friends. He told me they were basically proof of their existence. Touma doesn't care if his own existence is wiped away as long as the fact his friends existed isn't erased."

"Unfortunately, that doesn't surprise me either." Komaba looked down to the ground as he thought back to when they first met Touma. "I remember how he clung to that poor girls' body. That image still haunts me to this day." He tightened his hand into a fist at the thought of what Ketsueki did to Ai. He could still remember the lifeless look on her face. "If I could have arrived a few minutes faster, that poor girl would still be alive."

Wataru reassured his friend, "What happened to that girl was not your fault Komaba."

Komaba looked back at his friend and replied, "I know it wasn't, but it still pains me to think about how a few minutes could change everything." The tone in his voice sounded normal, but Wataru could tell that Komaba was in pain for what happened to Ai and Touma. "I could tell that his friends were his life, and I can understand having them ripped away from you can almost make you turn into an empty shell."

Wataru could agree to that. "Yeah that's true, but I would like to think we managed to prevent that for Touma. He may still not value his life too much, but I can tell he values yours, Konori's, and my own. We have been making progress, but I can still tell his spirit is keeping its distance. It's still going to take quite a bit more effort and time before he will start letting us in."

Komaba appeared to be somewhat happy after hearing Wataru's statement. "Don't sell yourself too short. I can tell that when you and Konori talk to him, he is happy. I believe the progress you have made has been a little more than you thought. As long as you keep trying, like you have been, I am sure he will let you two in soon enough."

Wataru did not say anything to Kamaba's statement and merely accepted it graciously. They continued to watch over Touma as he continued to read his journal in front of the Child Error family grave.

/

A few hours later, Touma found a good stopping point of reading his journal to Ai for that day. The clouds appeared as if they were going to pour any second and with his luck, they would probably start pouring before he left the cemetery.

Touma closed the journal and sadly told the grave, "I'll be back soon Ai. I promise that I will continue where I left off. I will keep coming back here and read you every entry until you are caught up in what's happening in my life."

Touma turned around to see Wataru standing behind him a short distance away. While Touma was generally good about being able to hear people approach him or having a sense when someone else is nearby, Wataru was always good at sneaking up on him. It did not surprise Touma too much anymore since Wataru was still his teacher, and he knew he still had a lot to learn.

Wataru was the first to speak. "So this is where the birthday boy decides to celebrate his big day. Not that I'm too surprised, but I was hoping you would choose a more fun venue to enjoy your day."

Touma was surprised to see Wataru was there and asked, "What are you doing here Kurozuma-san?"

Wataru playfully scoffed at Touma's question, "What kind of question is that? You are my new subordinate after all, and it is only right for a boss to make sure his subordinates are alright especially when it is his birthday."

Touma could not argue that Wataru had a point. Touma was grateful that Wataru cared about him, but he was not always good an expressing it. "I see. Well thanks for that."

Wataru decided to get more to the heart of this matter and said, "I guess this must be another reason for why you didn't burn that book." He gestured towards the journal in Touma's hand.

Touma looked at the journal that was in his hand. "Yes. As I mentioned before, this is my journal that my father gave to me before I left to live in Academy City." Touma gave a bittersweet smile as he reminisced over the old times. "I decided not to burn it not just because I want to keep proof that my friends in the Child Error Facility were alive, but I did it more specifically for Ai. About four years ago, I made a promise to her. It started off like any other day when she barged into my room wanting to know if I wanted to play football. She saw that I was writing in my journal, and she wanted to know what I had written, but I told her that there were a few things I wanted to keep to myself."

Wataru responded, "That's understandable. After all, it is a private journal, and it is natural for the writers to desire privacy."

Touma could not help but think bitterly about the past. "Yeah I know. Ai told me that she understood as well, but I had a hard time seeing her so sad. When I think about it now, I probably inadvertently hurt her even more than that."

Wataru was interested in knowing more. "What do you mean?"

Before he began his story Touma told Wataru, "It's going to take a few moments to explain. Do you mind listening to what I have to say?"

Wataru was patient individual when he had to be, and this was one of those times when he knew it was needed. "Yes I can. Go ahead."

This was going to be a long story, but Touma knew he had to begin from the beginning. "I may have told you and Komaba about some of the hard times I went through before coming to Academy City." Wataru nodded. "However, despite everything I had gone through, at least I knew my parents cared for me. After things became so bad in my neighborhood, I asked them to send me to Academy City, and they agreed because they thought I would live a better life here. However, that was not the case with Ai. Before the incident, she told me about her past, and it actually made me feel lucky by comparison. She told me that her parents sold her, and she ended up in that Child Error Facility."

Wataru did not say anything, but he reacted with a look that had a mixture of surprise and disgust. He could never picture anyone's parents being in a position to sell their child unless they were in some kind of massive trouble, such as having high debts. Of course that made Wataru even angrier at the thought, but he was able to keep the anger mostly to himself with only 'vague' hints showing on his face.

Touma took Wataru's silence as a sign to continue. "I may not know all the details of what happened with her parents, but I can't imagine what kind of pain she went through. I could tell that even after all those years, she was still having difficulty moving on and who could blame her? Now that I look back on everything in hindsight that was probably the reason she was more prone to becoming sad. It was probably easy to trigger those memories for her. Whenever I tried to keep secrets from her, she probably felt as if I was pushing her away. I was happy that after we were friends for so long that such misunderstandings were happening less and less. Unfortunately, she died before I could fulfill my promise to her."

Wataru had a feeling he knew the answer to this question, but he felt compelled to ask it anyway. "What promise was that?"

"After she told me that she understood that I didn't want to reveal anything in my journal, I told her that after I turned thirteen years old that I would show her my journal. Instead, she . . .," Touma was beginning to have difficulty continuing his sentence. His face was becoming filled with a sadness and rage over the past. It was through sheer force of will that he was able to continue. Unfortunately, the sadness in his heart made his voice crack. "Instead she died in front of me when I was only eleven. We were less than two years short of making that goal." He tightened his fingers into a strong grip to suppress the anger he felt. "I was never able to fulfill my promise to her, so that's why I came here. If she can still hear me, I wanted her to hear what was written in my journal. I plan to come here until I have finished telling her every detail I have written since the day I began writing in Academy City."

Wataru's memories brought him back to seeing Touma holding Ai's corpse in his arms pleading for her to wake up. He told Touma, "I'm sorry for what happened to her Touma. Komaba feels the same as well."

When Touma saw the guilt on Wataru's face over Ai's fate, he assured Wataru, "Don't be sorry for what happened to Ai. Neither of you two should be sorry. It wasn't your fault she died. You were able to avenge Ai's death and prevent those bastards from creating more victims like her and the other Child Errors. I won't forget that, and I will always be grateful to you both."

Hearing Touma say that to him did make Wataru feel better. However, what Touma said next did make him feel concerned.

Touma made his declaration, "Just as you two gave those bastards what they had coming to them, I plan on avenging their deaths as well by giving the ones who hired those monsters their comeuppance. I can promise you that it will not be painless."

"What you desire is understandable, but I hope I don't need to remind you of something important." Wataru perfectly understood Touma's reasons for revenge, and had no plans on stopping him from taking it if the opportunity ever arose. However, Wataru did feel the need to make sure that was not all Touma was thinking about.

Touma firmly told Wataru, "You don't. I already know full well that I can't let revenge be my only purpose in life. I can assure you that it won't be, and it never will. I will live to make sure fewer people have to suffer like Ai and my other friends had to. For the rest of my life, I will live for my fallen friends, and I will make sure they are never forgotten."

Wataru's face lightened up after hearing Touma say that. "That's very good to hear." He then put his hand on Touma's shoulder and cheerfully said, "Now let's do something more cheerful to celebrate your birthday. Konori told me that she bought you a present. Did you receive it yet?"

Touma answered, "Yeah. She gave it to me before I came here."

Wataru grinned and told Touma, "That's excellent news. I got something for you too. I'm sure you'll like it. Let's go."

With that Touma and Wataru finally left the cemetery to give Touma a more proper birthday celebration. It would be a good day for Touma, and he would greatly appreciate the gift that he would receive from Wataru. Touma enjoyed it while it lasted because within a few days after he celebrated this day, he would step into the limelight to begin his reign as "The Devil of Academy City." However, despite that, he would return to the cemetery on occasions to continue reading his journal to his friend Ai.

/

The day Touma made his debut as 'The Devil of Academy City,' it would be a day that would be remembered. His first appearance would mark the birth of a rumor that would eventually become one if not the greatest urban legend of all time. The ones who would witness this event would see both the good and the bad of his methods. They would be methods that the Devil would continue to use for his reign.

The Devil's first victim was a Level Three Esper by the name of Ito Minoru who had the ability to change his appendages into vines. When Touma saw this Esper, he reminded him of Miki one of Ketsueki's lackeys because he was able to transform his hair into something like this. However, Touma could not be too surprised by this because it was not unusual for there to be multiple Espers that have the same type of powers. In this case, Touma would guess this was some kind of 'body transformation' or 'plant-type' power those two Espers shared.

Ito Minoru had found a group of weaker Espers, and he was able to quickly subdue them. At this point he had all of them at his mercy. With the vines he had created with his right hand, he could easily choke all of them to death. While he did not seem interested in the idea of killing any of them, he was interested in seeing them terrified as he tortured them a little.

However, his 'fun' was interrupted when he heard someone speak up to him. "I think it would be for the best if you left them alone."

Minoru turned around, and he saw a person wearing a dragon styled mask, along with a pair of dark pants and a dark coat. The dark coat came with a hood, so you would not be able to see what this figure's hair looked like.

When Minoru saw this person he could not help but think, _"What kind of loser is this?"_ Then he asked a question most people in this situation would ask, "Who the hell are you?"

Touma merely answered, "I'm the one that is going to put an end to your games." He then began to walk towards Minoru's position.

Minoru said in a smug fashion, "Oh a tough guy? Do you realize how many tough guys I have taken down, and you don't even seem like your half as capable as any of them." Touma continued walking towards Minoru and disregarded everything that was being said. "Hey are you listening?! I'm giving you a chance to walk away."

Touma replied in a deadpan voice, "Of course I'm not listening. If I listened to anything you have to say, it would probably make me stupider for doing so."

That enraged Minoru. He shouted, "You son of a bitch!" Minoru then turned his free left hand into vines that he intended to strangle Touma with, but Touma managed to grab those vines with his right hand before they could do any damage.

As soon as he touched those vines with his right hand, everyone in the vicinity could hear something that sounded like shattering glass. Suddenly, the vines that Touma was holding onto disappeared and Minoru's left hand was back to normal. When Touma grabbed those vines, he was technically touching Minoru's body. Due to being in contact with Touma's Imagine Breaker, it also caused Minoru's right hand to turn back to normal, and his victims were free of his grasp. They were all coughing up for air after their release.

Minoru was so shocked by what happened that he did not realize that within five seconds Touma was right next to him. Touma had taken advantage of Minoru's confused state and rushed in for the 'takedown.' Before he attacked Minoru, Touma declared, "I'll break your illusion." He proceeded to punch Minoru in the gut with his right hand and then uppercut him. Afterwards, Touma kicked Minoru which knocked him to the ground.

Receiving so many blows stunned Minoru and he was barely able to comprehend how horribly he was being beaten. Not to mention, it was happening so easily. Before he could get up, Touma had him pinned down. When he was grabbed he could swear he heard the sound of 'shattering glass' again. Minoru attempted to use his vines again, but it was useless.

Touma was holding Minoru down with his right hand. By keeping his right hand on Minoru's body, he was ensuring that Minoru would not be able to use his ability, while he made sure Minoru received what he had coming. He used his left hand to continuously punch Minoru's face, and he did it until he was certain that Minoru's nose was bloody and broken. However, he was not done with Minoru yet. Touma pulled out a silencer, and proceeded to shoot at both of Minoru's legs. Minoru would not be paralyzed, but he would not be able to walk without assistance.

Minoru was crying in pain as Touma stood above him and said, "That was your due karma. Even if the laws do not give you the punishment you deserve, I have ensured you will receive at least some of it now."

Touma walked up to Minoru's frightened victims and asked them, "Are you all right?"

The aura that Touma was presenting to these people was much different than what he was giving to Minoru. It was kinder and softer however all of Minoru's victims were still frightened because of what happened. Although one of the victims did speak up for the rest, "We are fine. Thank you."

Touma responded, "You're very welcome. However, before I leave, you need to do something for me."

The victim asked, "What is that?"

Touma instructed him, "I want you to wait one minute after I am gone before you contact Anti-Skill. Can you do that?"

The victim replied, "Okay." The victim figured it was the least he could do for the person that saved them.

Before Touma could leave the scene, Minoru asked him in a pained voice, "Who are you?"

"I suppose I never did introduce myself." Touma turned around and told Minoru, "I'm the 'Devil of Academy City.'"

It was after that act that rumors of the 'Devil of Academy City' were born. With every Esper Touma had defeated, the rumors began to expand slowly but surely. However, at that point, there was not enough to make him truly stand out besides having a 'supposed' negating power. At that point, the rumormongers believed the Devil only attacked Espers who abused their powers, and that was not exactly original for 'Esper Vigilantes.' However, their theories would soon be proven wrong.

/

The people that Kamijou Touma also known as Temna Ginjou or 'The Devil of Academy City' would target were not exclusive to Espers who would abuse their powers or to punish those responsible for the deaths of Ai and his other friends. His targets included anyone in Academy City that would attempt to harm those weaker than them. It did not matter if they were regular humans, Level Zero Espers or anyone in between. Even if those types of people did believe in the rumors of the "Devil," they did not believe the Devil would waste his time on them. Unfortunately, for them, there was a few particular Level Zero thugs would learn that was not the case the hard way.

One day there was a knife wielder known as, Kimura Takaya. He was accompanied by his subordinates Suzuki Manabura, Narita Ryo, and Saito Nobu. Long before the days of the 'Devil' they had mugged and tormented countless other people. According to Takaya, he found the experience to be exhilarating. He enjoyed hearing people scream in agony before him.

However, Takaya never went as far as to kill his victims. From his perspective, he found it to be no fun if his target was dead because then they could not scream or amuse him anymore. It did not matter to him whether or not his victims were capable of identifying him or not because he would always get away with his crimes. However, there was one exception to his 'perfect get away record.' It happened a few years ago when he attacked three Child Errors, and a woman who dressed like a normal civilian happened to be an Anti-Skill.

Due to not realizing this woman was an Anti-Skill, he grossly underestimated her abilities, and he along with his subordinates were rendered unconscious in a matter of moments. The next thing he knew he was under arrest, and it was likely they would be in prison for years. However, they were lucky because several months later, the Child Error Facility those particular Child Errors were living in was attacked and none of them were seen alive again. They were either killed or missing after it happened. Without any of those testimonies and due to an interference that prevented the female Anti-Skill from being able to provide her testimony, Takaya and his subordinates were released back onto the streets.

Takaya knew better than to go right back into mugging and assaults right after his prison release. He had a feeling that the female Anti-Skill was keeping an eye on him, but he knew that she could not possibly continue that for long. After sometime had passed, he got his gang together, and he continued where he left off. Takaya and his gang had been committing crimes and avoiding imprisonment ever since then. However, he was about to have a meeting with someone that he would never forget.

It started out just like any ordinary mugging. Takaya had his knife pointed at his intended victims. They were a teenage couple that Takaya and his men had managed to corner in a back alley. The two victims were both Level Ones, but their abilities were not capable of combating Takaya nor did they have the capability to fight these criminals. The two of them had given Takaya their money, but Takaya had ordered his men to hurt them anyway.

As his subordinates were about to hurt their victims, a voice called out to them, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Everyone turned around to see a man wearing a mask that represented a dragon. He was also wearing a hood, so you would have difficulty seeing a number of distinguishing features, such as his hair. Upon seeing this man a similar thought went across everyone's mind, _"He's real."_

When Touma saw the face of the gang's leader, he recognized him immediately. This criminal's name was Kimura Takaya. Touma thought to himself, _"I remember him. He was the same guy who threatened to harm Ai, Yuudai and me years ago._" Touma remembered that it was only due to the timely intervention of the Anti-Skill Yomikawa Ahio that they were saved. Touma could not believe this man was walking the streets again instead of being behind bars. He would have hoped that the man's crimes would have been enough to at least put him away for at least five years, but he was obviously let off the hook. Touma then thought, _"Well I will gladly give him the comeuppance that he deserves."_

Nobu said in a tone that was a mixture of fear and surprise, "So you are real. The rumors were true."

Touma stated in an ominous voice, "Yes they are, and I am sure you know what is going to happen next."

Manabura could feel Touma's rage from where he was standing and he desperately said, "Wait a minute. I thought you only targeted Espers with powers not people like me."

"When did I ever say that? As I recall, that was just speculation that people considered after the way I punished those other Espers. I never said anything about my targets being exclusive to those with powers. I am more than willing to make examples of trash like yourself." Takaya was pissed after hearing Touma say that. "Hopefully, after I am done with you and your friends, people will be changing the content of those rumors. I appreciate it when the people making rumors about me get the facts straight."

Ryo readied his own knife and pointed it at the Devil as he stated in a cocky voice, "Don't act like you are so high and mighty. I heard that you can nullify any power, but I doubt that you can nullify people's fighting abilities."

The Devil casually responded, "You'd be correct in assuming that. Not like it matters because I will be making short work out of all of you."

Takaya did not seem too worried about what this Devil could do. "I would be careful about what you say. After all, there are four of us and only one of you. Do you really think you can take us all on?"

The Devil confidently told his soon to be victims, "I don't think it. I know it."

Ryo was tired of the talking and attacked the Devil with as much speed as he could muster. He shouted out, "Just die already."

When he was within striking range of the Devil, he thrusted his blade toward the Devil's heart, but the Devil easily ducked. The next thing Ryo knew, the Devil kicked at his legs which caused him to fall to the ground. Before Ryo could recover from his sudden fall, the Devil then kicked him in the stomach. Afterwards, he fell unconscious.

Everyone who witnessed that were surprised at the Devil's combat skills. However, that was not enough to scare Manabura and Nobu to run away. Instead, the two of them attacked the Devil at the same time in hope that they could overwhelm him with a classic two-on-one scenario.

Both Manabura and Nobu recited a few 'cliché lines of attack' when they attempted fight the Devil, such as "Take this," or "You don't stand a chance against us."

They attempted to punch and stab the Devil numerous times, but they might as well have been attempting to attack air. The Devil was able to easily avoid each and every one of their attacks as if they were nothing. The more the Devil dodged their attacks the more frustrated they became. This caused their movements to become more sloppy and vulnerable to a counterattack. The Devil was merely waiting for the right moment to strike.

When the Devil saw his chance, he seized it without hesitation. He managed to dodge another one of Manabura's attacks, and he kicked Manbura right into some nearby garbage cans. Afterwards Nobu attempted to attack the Devil again, but to no avail. The Devil grabbed Nobu's arm and managed to disarm him. He was then able to knock Nobu off his feet, and Nobu was pinned to the ground while his arm was still awkwardly being held by the Devil. If the Devil wanted to, he could easily shatter it.

When Manabura managed to pick himself up from the garbage, he saw Nobu's predicament. Upon seeing that his ally was in such a position, Manabura was hesitant to make another attempt to attack.

Nobu said out loud, "Don't worry about me just get this guy." That was enough to make Manabura charge.

The Devil said in a disappointed tone, "So much for getting this to be a peaceful surrender." He proceeded to let go of Nobu's arm and quickly punched the back of his head to knock him unconscious. The Devil then immediately prepared for Manabura's attack.

Before Manabura was close to the Devil, he was more than ready for Manabura's assault. When the timing was right, the Devil raised his right leg and kicked it out. His right leg managed to connect with Manabura's left arm which not only disarmed him, but it most likely broke his arm due to hearing a sickening crack. The Devil proceeded to follow that kick with another kick. This one connected with Manabura's head and knocked him unconscious as well.

The Devil then turned to Takaya and said, "Well that is three down. Do you care to make it four?"

Takaya managed to hide the fear in his eyes. He gave the Devil a wicked grin as he said, "I'd like to see you try."

Similar to Ryo, Takaya attempted to stab the Devil with his own knife, but he was quickly disarmed. Takaya had some martial abilities of his own, so he was able to block several of the Devil's attacks. He attempted to attack the Devil, but his punches and kicks were easily blocked. At first it appeared these two combatants would be locked in a standstill.

After a few minutes of fighting, the Devil managed to get his fist to connect with Takaya's face. That left Takaya open to several other subsequent punches. After several more blows Takaya was knocked down for the count. He was beaten and he knew it.

The Devil then proceeded to tell Takaya, "I'm not sure if you are going to receive your due punishment for this or not by the law. However, I am going to ensure that you receive at least one befitting punishment right now." The Devil then proceeded to pull out a gun.

Takaya's face was filled with fear as he stared at the Devil's weapon. He frantically said, "Wait you're going to kill me? I thought you were pretending to be the hero to these people."

The Devil cynically stated, "I never said I was a hero. That's just what people think of me."

Takaya was desperate to preserve his own life. "Then if you kill me, you really are the 'Devil.' You would have earned that name people gave you."

As the Devil was adding the silencer to his gun, he casually told Takaya, "Your assumptions are wrong again. The name 'Devil' is actually something that I did tell people to call me. Anyway, who said anything about killing you? I said that I want you to be punished, and I meant it."

The Devil then pointed his weapon at Takaya's legs and shot them both. The alleyway was filled with Takaya's scream of agony. As Takaya continued to cry in pain, the Devil told him, "You should probably be spending a little bit of time in the hospital before they decide whether or not to send you to prison. At least you won't be on the streets for a while either way." Afterwards, the Devil proceeded to give Takaya's henchmen a similar treatment, and their screams of agony soon followed.

While Takaya's would be victims were grateful to their savior, his abilities and 'punishments' frightened them. After their savior had rendered Takaya and his henchmen unconscious, he took the money they stole from the couple, and he threw it back to them.

He asked them, "Are you two all right?"

The boy responded, "Yeah we're okay."

The Devil seemed relieved to hear that. "That's good. In that case, I need you to do me a favor."

The girl asked, "What kind of favor?"

The Devil gave his 'usual' instructions. "I need you to wait for three minutes before you report this to the Anti-Skill. I don't really care for what you say to them, but all I need from you is three minutes. Can you do that for me?"

The boy was quick to agree to those terms. "Yes. Yes we can."

"Good. I'll take my leave then." Before he left he said one last thing, "By the way, you should consider yourselves lucky. You should be careful of where you go next time."

The boy responded, "We'll be sure to keep that in mind."

The Devil coldly told them, "You better."

With that, the Devil took his leave, and he was long gone before the couple informed the Anti-Skill of what had just transpired.

/

The would-be victims did as the 'Devil' instructed and waited three minutes before calling Anti-Skill themselves. When the Anti-Skill arrived, they saw four known Level Zero thugs lying on the ground beaten with gunshot wounds to their legs. Among those Anti-Skill personnel was one known as Yomikawa Ahio. She had been taking an interest in the recent happenings of Academy City. Based on what she was seeing, she was certain that this was the work of the same person even before she spoke with the witnesses.

She said to herself, "What a mess." She then turned to the witnesses and asked them, "Can you tell me what happened here?"

The boy's name was Saito Ren, and he explained to Yomikawa. "We were being harassed by those people here, but someone stepped in and helped us."

Yomikawa asked, "Do you know what this person looked like?"

The girl who was named, Shinozaki Miu answered that question. "No. The person was wearing a mask, so I couldn't see his face."

Yomikawa was not surprised by what she was hearing. "A mask huh? I suppose that is not surprising. Did the person say anything that might have given clues to his identity?"

Ren was not certain at first. "Not really, but . . . wait. I think I remember something."

Yomikawa was hoping what Ren had to say could give her a lead. "What is it?"

Ren told her, "I had difficulty hearing what they were talking about, but I think he knew who that guy was."

Yomikawa asked in a suspicious tone, "What makes you think that?"

This time Miu responded, "The masked person appeared to have a strange reaction after looking at that guy's face." The girl pointed to Takaya. "If anything the masked man was angry that guy was free. I think it's possible they met before."

Unfortunately, that was not the clue Yomikawa was hoping for. "I see. That guy you see before you is known as Kimura Takaya. Based on his history, that would not surprise me in the least. You are not the only people he has harassed."

Later when Yomikawa was alone, she thought back to what Ren and Miu had said to her. She thought to herself, _"It wouldn't be enough to reduce the number of suspects either, but still. I'm not sure how many of his victims would actually know he was arrested once before but only released early on technicalities. If I think like that, I might be able to figure out who the 'Devil' is before this gets too out of hand."_

Unfortunately for Yomikawa, things would get out of hand long before she would be able to attempt anything. The end results would not be pleasant.

/

Touma was in the kitchen preparing dinner for some of his fellow Big Spider members. He had returned to the Big Spider headquarters only a little while ago, and despite working in a kitchen for hours already, he felt the urge to continue cooking. It felt as if he was naturally drawn to cooking.

Whatever he was preparing it smelled incredible. Konori entered the kitchen herself to see Touma slaving away in preparing this meal. She debated with herself whether or not she should try speaking with him. A part of her felt as if she would be rude to interrupt him while his mind was attempting to concentrate on preparing the dish. However, she had not spoken to him for the past few days due to his numerous 'Devil' runs, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to talk to him again.

After thinking it over, Konori decided to talk to Touma. "Hey Tem-, I mean Kamijou-san, how was work today?"

Touma was capable of answering her while continuing the dinner preparations. "It went well. It was just like any other day. I managed to cook all the orders without any difficulty, and we had plenty of happy patrons. It makes me glad that I don't really have to rely on luck to cook other people's food properly."

Konori was aware of Touma's constant 'misfortune,' and based on a few of the things he has told her, she was more than willing to believe him. She responded, "That's good to hear. However, from what I'm seeing, it looks like cooking is more than just a job for you. You seem to enjoy cooking for us as well."

Touma told Konori his history with cooking. "I do enjoy cooking. I found it difficult to do at first, but I grew to find it a great activity that you could utilize for both fun and practical purposes. Ever since Komaba-san and Kurozuma-san invited me to stay in the Big Spider, I have always seen cooking as my way of being able to pull my weight and earn my keep in the Big Spider. Over the past few years, cooking has become so much a part of me that I can never really picture myself not cooking."

Konori was interested in knowing more. "Is that so?"

Touma continued his story. "That's right. Since they offered me a place to stay and a purpose, I figured the least I could do was cook meals for them. I also figured that I couldn't afford to live solely through their support either, which is why I have worked as a cook too for restaurants where I wouldn't attract a lot of attention. That way if I felt like I wanted or needed something, I would be the one buying it rather than borrowing money from them."

Konori playfully responded, "I'm sure they appreciated your wish to be independent."

Touma replied in a mixed tone, "They sort of did. However, they did have a few concerns that I was pushing myself, but everything has been working out so far. Now that I'm actually a full-fledged member of 'Big Spider,' I am now able to pull my weight even further than before."

Konori figured it would be for the best to change the topic of their discussion. "Speaking of members, I'm sure you've heard that we have been getting a few new recruits over the past few days."

Touma was not nearly as interested in this topic, but he decided to go along with the conversation anyway. "Yeah I've heard about that. I heard a few of them joined because they wanted to be in 'league' with the Devil."

Konori enthusiastically stated, "That's right. A lot of the other members like Hebitani-san and Kyuzo-kun have been ecstatic over the fact we have received more new members in the past two weeks than we recruited since the time I joined Big Spider."

Touma replied skeptically, "Kyuzo was ecstatic? I wouldn't picture someone like him being excited about anything."

Konori corrected herself, "I guess I wouldn't say he was ecstatic in the normal sense of the word, but in his own way he was. Anyway, we should probably also be grateful that a number of the rumors accurately indicated you are a member of Skill-Out. Those rumors have been really working to our advantage."

Touma grimly responded, "Rumors can be both good and bad. This just happens to be the good side of having these rumors. I'm sure we will be seeing plenty of the bad side soon enough."

That made Konori feel a little concerned, "What do you think will happen when that comes to pass?"

Touma responded, "I'm not sure, but I can tell that we will see it soon. When it happens, I'm sure I will be ready."

Konori thought, _"Can you really be sure about that? You always go on your own."_ Konori decided to ask, "If you don't mind can I ask you something Kamijou-san."

Touma was not going to deny Konori's request. "What is it Konori-chan?"

Konori asked, "I notice that whenever you go on one of your 'Devil' runs, you always go by yourself. Are you sure you still want to do that?"

Touma was silent for a moment before he answered. "I'm better off on my own."

Konori retorted, "I don't think that's true. You might need some backup in the future. You never know what could happen."

Touma considered what Konori said for a few moments before responding. "Maybe, but for now this is something I need to do on my own. Can you understand that?"

As much as she hated to admit it, she could see why he felt that. "Yes. However, when you need help, just let me know. I would be more than happy to help you."

Before Konori left, Touma called out to her, "Konori-chan. There is something I could use your help with."

Konori eagerly asked, "What is it?"

Touma asked, "Could you help me with this cooking? It's taking me a little longer than I anticipated."

While it was not quite what she was hoping, Konori was happy to help. "Sure."

/

Within a few weeks of Touma's debut as the "Devil of Academy City," rumors had been surfacing regarding his existence, and what he was capable of. At first there was skepticism, but as more 'Devil encounters' occurred more frequently, the more people began to believe. It was not long before an urban legend regarding the "Devil of Academy City" eventually began to take form.

The first appearance of the Devil only turned a few heads because this would not be the first vigilante to appear in Academy City. However, there were several factors that quickly stood him apart from the other wannabe heroes:

First unlike most vigilantes who were usually caught by the authorities within their first few "acts of heroism," the Devil was always able to escape before the Anti-Skill could arrive.

Second, this vigilante stayed true to his principles and always went after Espers that were abusing their powers. There were also times the Devil would take down a Level-Zero who was threatening innocent civilians. Apparently, he would sometimes use a variation of 'catchphrases' before he delivered the final blow.

Third, he gave each and every one of his victims, regardless of their gender or ethnicity, a vicious beating. Depending on what his victim had done, the severity of his punishments varied. Either way, he made it clear to them that even if they are not legally held responsible for their prior offences, they would not be getting away scot-free.

Fourth, whenever he supposedly spoke to the innocent civilians he saved, assuming they did not run away from the scene, he seemed to be a completely different person.

Fifth, it was his apparent ability to nullify any and all of his opponent's abilities. This struck fear in the hearts of even powerful Espers. According to witness accounts, the Espers would be in situations with a man wearing a mask who would keep approaching them regardless of how much power that was shot at him.

As Konori had mentioned, there were a number of disillusioned Level Zero Espers or regular humans, who saw this as a possible calling. While there was no proof that the 'Devil' was a member of Skill-Out, someone had added a bit of information that the 'Devil' was affiliated with them. The most likely culprit was Tsuchimikado because he knew that it would not be enough to cause the authorities to conduct an investigation, but it would be enough to get the ball rolling. As a result, the membership of Skill-Out increased exponentially.

Unfortunately, there were less than favorable results from these rumors. While this image would be enough to scare some, it was more than enough to think of the Devil as a new challenge worth facing. Similar to regular humans, there were all kinds of Espers. There were those that were more level headed and would heed warnings such as this. There were those that knew that they needed to gain a greater sense of control over their abilities before they would even consider trying to find out the legitimacy of such rumors. Then there were a number of arrogant Espers in Academy City that did not care if they showed off their abilities because the idea of someone like the Devil excited them.

/

A Level Three Esper by the name of Arakaki Rin was an Esper who thrived at the idea of being able to fight the 'Devil' personally. She wished to rise to fame quickly, and she believed one way to do it was to fight the rumored "Devil of Academy City." At this point the "Devil" had already delivered his 'justice' to at least twenty individuals who threatened the weak. That gave Rin an idea to draw his attention.

Rin decided that she would attack any and all individuals in hopes that she would lure him out to the open for a fight. She would use her ice abilities to attack numerous bystanders in hopes it would attract his attention. When she was committing her fourth attack, the Devil had finally caught up to her.

She relished at the opportunity to finally do battle with the Devil of Academy City herself. However, she grossly overestimated her abilities. She was relatively easy prey for him to take down.

/

Rin was against the wall breathing heavily. She knew her opponent was going to be a tough one, but she did not expect to be so utterly dominated by this man. She said, "It seems like being called the, 'Devil of Academy City' was appropriate. You're a vicious person who doesn't even give mercy to a little girl.

Touma said in a disgusted tone, "Some little girl you are. You were using those kids as target practice. You honestly believe you don't deserve this?"

She casually stated, "I was just using them to lure you out in the open, so I could fight you myself. You're quite the topic among urban legend enthusiasts. If I could take you down. Not only would I get rewarded, but I would become the new legend."

"That's it!? That is your reason for attacking all of those innocent people?! You just wanted to become famous?!" Touma's voice was filled with unspeakable rage.

While Rin was keeping Touma distracted by their conversation, she was discreetly creating an ice dagger with her powers. "Of course that's the reason. What could be more important when such an opportunity is presenting itself?" The air was tense, and it was silent for a few moments. "Only a fool would let such a chance go." She then lunged at Touma ready to attack.

Touma caught her arm with his right hand. The sound of shattering glass could be heard and the weapon she created broke into pieces. The girl's expression basically said, _"Oh crap."_ She tried activating her powers again but to no avail. Touma said gravely, "I hope you weren't expecting me to go easy on you just because you're a girl." She weakly nodded her head and was given a punch in the face by his left hand in response.

Rin fell right to the ground. She was now on her hands and knees. Touma did not give her a chance to recover. He proceeded to kick her in the stomach and then grabbed her by the collar again. She tried to struggle out of his grip, but he shoved her right into the wall then he punched her in the gut. As she gasped for air, Touma then grabbed Rin and threw her into some nearby garbage cans.

After she was thrown into those garbage cans, she saw that the "Devil" was slowly approaching her. In desperation, she tied to crawl away as fast as she could, but it was to no avail. He roughly put his foot down on her back. "Do you understand this feeling I am inflicting upon you? It is helplessness and all your illusions of superiority are being shattered. You need to engrave this in your mind." The sound of his voice kept increasing the fear in her heart. "However, I am not done." He took out his gun and shot her in both legs.

Rin cried out in pain. She was so concentrated on her pain that she could not even find the strength to curse the Devil's existence.

Touma said to his victim, "You should have known this never would have happened if you didn't commit those crimes to draw me out. I don't know if you will be held accountable for your actions or not, but I suppose what I did to you might be punishment enough."

Seeing that Rin was unable to give an answer, Touma decided to tell her, "You should be thanking me because I will let you live. That is more than what I can say if you had overcome me. Didn't you ever consider that others would seek your life if you became famous through such violent means? If you didn't, you are an even bigger fool than I thought."

The girl said absolutely nothing and could only give Touma a painful look. Touma said, "Paramedics should be on their way. You won't have to worry about dying this time, but if you continue taking such actions, I can't be held responsible for your fate."

Touma then walked away and left Rin behind. Rin smiled before the ambulance arrived. "You certainly are a character Devil-san."

/

After learning of Touma's encounter with Rin, Konori became more concerned about Touma's wellbeing than ever. If one Esper used others in an attempt to fight and possibly kill him to have the 'honor' of defeating the Devil, Konori knew it was likely others would follow. While she knew Touma was strong, she knew that he was not invincible. She decided it would be for the best to speak with Wataru.

As soon as she found Wataru, she called out to him, "Kurozuma-san there is something I need to talk to you about."

Wataru already had a good guess about what this was about given recent events. "Let me guess. It is about Touma."

Konori was glad she did not need to explain herself. "That's right. As you probably know, an Esper endangered the lives of innocent civilians in order to lure him out into the open."

Wataru sighed as he stated, "Yes I've heard about that. However, that does not seem to have deterred our mutual friend. If anything he seems more determined than ever to continue what he is doing."

Konori responded, "That is actually what I want to talk to you about. A few days ago, Kamijou-san told me that while the rumors had helped increase the number of Skill-Out members we have, it may lead to some less favorable results as well. I think he had an idea that something like this was going to happen."

Wataru calmly told Konori, "When you think about it, this isn't really a surprise. After all, this is Academy City, and I am sure there are plenty of Espers out there that would do anything to prove themselves. Not necessarily by legal or honorable means either."

That did not make Konori feel any better. "That's what I'm afraid of. Kamijou-san still plans on going on his runs by himself right?"

Wataru sighed again before he said, "Yes. I told him it's a bad idea, but he is stubborn about wanting to do this alone."

Even though Konori had a feeling that telling Wataru was not really necessary, she still felt the need to say it. "I have the feeling that ice Esper will be the first of many to come. I know Kamijou-san is a strong fighter, but there might be a day when he will find himself in a situation he can't handle on his own. When that time comes, he will need help." Konori then stated in a firmer voice, "He will need your help."

While Wataru did not argue with that suggestion, he could not help but wonder. "I don't disagree with that, but why come to me? Don't you want to help him?"

Konori admitted with a slight bit of shame in her voice, "I do want to help Kamijou-san, but you would be more suited for it. You are more capable of effectively using your stealth abilities than me, and he is a lot less likely to notice you."

Wataru was glad that Konori was humble about her abilities. He would not want her to be overconfident and arrogant. "I suppose I can't argue with that either."

Konori eagerly asked, "So you'll do it?"

Wataru grinned and stated, "I was actually planning to do that even before you asked. He may not always act like it, but he is our friend."

Konori was happy to hear Wataru make that statement. She knew that as long as Touma would receive Wataru's help, he would be fine.

/

While there were those that become followers of the "Devil of Academy City" urban legend in attempts to become famous by defeating the man behind the legend, there were those that would want to learn more for different reasons. There were those that would want to see how the legend would develop. However, there were those who would make life changing choices by learning of the legend's existence.

An elementary school girl was alone in her student dorm checking out different websites on her laptop. The girl's name was Saten Ruiko, a Level Zero Esper, who had aspirations of becoming a hero. However, despite her hard work, she has remained a Level Zero throughout her years of being in Academy City. This city was supposed to make the supernatural possible, and she has seen how others have developed abilities.

However, what pained her the most was that she had seen students who did not work half as hard as her, but they still managed to gain an ability. It was frustrating to her that she despite all her efforts, she had nothing to show for it. Due to her lack of Esper talent, she was occasionally required to attend supplementary classes during the vacations.

Luckily, instead of letting her frustrations get the better of her, she focused on making friends. It was through her friends that she would eventually develop the hobby of looking up information on any new or updated urban legends of Academy City. At first it was an on-and-off activity she did, but that would soon change. After she would read about one urban legend in particular, it would cause Saten's interest in those urban legends to skyrocket.

It started out as a typical Sunday, and the girl was bored stiff. She said to herself, "I might as well see if anything new has been posed on the 'Urban Legends' forum. That'll give me something to talk about tomorrow."

When Saten clicked into the homepage, she noticed that the 'hit counter' had gone up nearly two-fold since her last visit. She asked out loud in a surprised voice, "What's this?" Her voice was filled with confusion. She knew the website was popular, but this growth on the 'hit counter' was phenomenal. Saten thought to herself, _"Did a new urban legend appear."_

Saten clicked onto the forums, and as she guessed, there was a new urban legend. She looked at the name of it, and it read, "The Devil of Academy City." The name alone was enough to attract Saten's attention. Apparently, this urban legend only started slightly more than two weeks ago, and there were already ten thousand posts. Saten looked in awe of what everyone was saying about this 'Devil.' It was filled with both second-hand and first-hand accounts.

Apparently, the "Devil" was someone who would hide his face behind a mask, and he would hunt down Espers who abused their powers and 'punish' them severely. A more recent post indicated, that he would attack any and all people who are threatening others regardless of whether they have powers or not. Another post claimed that this "Devil" was capable of blocking and negating any Esper powers, and he was an unstoppable force.

Most of the rumors painted the "Devil" in a positive light despite the notorious name. According to the posters, the person behind the mask always refers to himself as 'The Devil of Academy City.' A majority of the people on the forum appeared to be in agreement due to his supposed abilities making it seem like no mortal man or Esper had a chance to defeat him.

While most of the rumors were true, there were a fair number that were either exaggerations or outright lies. One of the most notorious being that people have claimed the "Devil" actually; transforms into a true Devil and drags Espers into the depths of Hell. Saten had more than enough common sense to ignore that one. Luckily that was one rumor that did not stick because while there had been a lot of reported injuries from supposed 'Devil encounters,' none of them ended in deaths.

People's opinions on the "Devil" were divided. Some people considered him to be fearless vigilante who fought for justice. Some considered him to be evil incarnate that enjoyed torturing his victims before letting the proper authorities deal with them. Others thought of him as a hero who loved to torture his enemies because he knows that is what they deserve, but they would not receive such a punishment in any other way. Saten's thoughts on the other hand were, _"This sounds very interesting. I want to know more."_

Personally, Saten was not interested in considering him to be a hero or a villain for the time being. She was more interested in seeing how the urban legend would develop. The general consensus was that his main target were Espers who abused their powers that are not likely to be caught by the law enforcement agencies. While Saten had witnessed one or two times she had seen an Esper being taken down by Anti-Skill or Judgment for power abuse, she was not naïve enough to believe they were capable of handling every situation. The idea there was an individual who would attempt to take down the Espers who were under Anti-Skill and Judgment's radars excited her to no end.

Saten excitedly thought to herself, "I definitely have to stay up to date on this story. It sounds like something that comes up once in a lifetime." This caused another thought to come across her mind, "Maybe I have been underestimating just how interesting these rumors and urban legends can be. I should come to this website more often."

Before Saten decided to call it a day from looking up rumors and urban legends, she came across another strange rumor that caught her eye. She read the title out loud, "The Curse of the Stripping Lady? That sounds like it would be funny." Indeed it was, and it was another rumor that was true to an extent. The truth behind this 'stripping lady' would include a great tragedy, and it would leave a major impact on Saten and many others.

For better or worse, this is what would fuel Saten's future obsession with looking up urban legends. Before she logged off, Saten asked herself, "I wonder if I should mention any of this 'Devil' stuff to Uiharu." After giving it some thought Saten decided, "It probably wouldn't be the best idea, but maybe some of these other rumors would be a good thing to talk about."

/

As it turns out, Saten did not need to talk to Uiharu about the "Devil of Academy City" because at around the same time, Saten's friend, Uiharu Kazari, was looking up information on this "Devil" urban legend as well. While Uiharu's interest in the urban legends of Academy City could not even come close to Saten's, she still liked to look up information on them occasionally.

She was looking up information on Academy City's Urban Legends because her friends had recommended she should join Judgment. The conversation was still fresh in her head.

Uiharu could not forget what Muusuggested to her. "Hey Uiharu-san, you should probably think about joining Judgment."

"Ehh!?" Uiharu was surprised by this statement, but she was quick to pass it off as a joke. She responded, "Very funny Muu-chan. You almost had me there."

The one Uiharu referred to as Muu-chan repeated herself without any signs of sarcasm or mocking, "I'm serious. Judgment could use someone who has talents like yours. Wouldn't you agree Mako and Akemi?"

The two other girls nodded in agreement. The two of them showed the support by enthusiastically stating, "You would be an asset to Judgment."

Unfortunately, Uiharu was less than convinced, "But my body is so weak, and I catch a lot of colds. I don't think I would be of much use to Judgment."

Mako said in protest, "That's not true. While your body might be weak, your intelligence and skill with computers should be enough to help others. You don't have to be one of their frontline people. You can just act as one of their supporting members, and they would probably be more than happy to have you."

Akemisaid in agreement, "If they have more people like you on the team, I bet Judgment will get twice the amount of work done."

Muu said in a playful manner, "Yeah. If Judgment becomes more effective, there would be no more need for the Devil then."

That last part caught Uiharu's attention. She asked in a curious tone, "What do you mean the Devil?"

After Uiharu asked about the "Devil of Academy City," her friends told her all they could remember about the rumors of this new urban legend. They recommended that she should look up some additional information for herself in order to better understand it. Later that day, Uiharu did just that and went onto the Urban Legends website.

Uiharu was surprised by how popular this urban legend had become even though it was relatively new. While she was smart enough to know the 'demonic rumors' were less than truthful, she did notice something that made her believe this "Devil" was a real person.

According to the rumors, the Devil apparently beats his victims severely and will shoot them in non-fatal areas as a coupé grace. Recently, Uiharu had to see a doctor regarding her most recent illness. While she was at the hospital, she noticed something was wrong. There was an incredibly high number of Espers in the ER. The number was much higher than any of her previous hospital victims, and she figured it must have been the "Devil's" handiwork.

While she could see the Devil was only targeting those who bullied others, she believed that taking such measures was not right either. She thought to herself, _"Maybe I should consider joining Judgment when I'm old enough after all. If people view his methods as being more efficient than law enforcement, it will most likely create copycats. If Judgment can work more efficiently in their jurisdictions, it may reduce people's wiliness to support the "Devil." However, I'm still not sure if I can really help."_ Uiharu looked at the clock and it was getting late. _"I should think about this later."_

Before Uiharu went to bed she also thought, _"I should probably avoid talking to Saten-san about this either for the time being. I wouldn't want her to think about supporting someone like that."_

/

Unfortunately, for the "Devil," these rumors attracted the attention of plenty of Espers who were well above any Esper he had fought before. Most of these Espers had no issues of openly using their powers, but they had their own way of doing things, or they required 'authorization' before attempting to go after such a target. While some of these Espers enjoyed fighting for their own reasons, some preferred to handle challenges and assignments more discreetly, so it would be more 'fun.'

At this point in Academy City's history, only five Espers had attained the rank of Level Five, which was currently the highest rank possible for an Esper to climb. Within a year or so, that number would soon reach up to seven Espers. If and/or when an Esper attains the rank of a Level Five, that would mean he or she has the power that is nearly to the equivalent of a physical god.

Each of these Espers should to be feared, and they should not be trifled with. In fact, it would be recommended for others to run away from these Espers if they were looking for a fight. There are very few if any lower ranked Espers that have the capacity to challenge these individuals to put up even a remotely decent fight. Unfortunately, it is not too unusual for Espers with mediocre abilities to be stupid enough to challenge these Level 5s and end up hospitalized or worse.

/

**Esper of Interest #1**

There was a beautiful girl wearing a yellow dress with long flowing brown hair. You could tell by the interior of her room she was a person that came from money. She was feverishly looking through all the forum posts regarding the "Devil of Academy City." The more rumors and speculation she found the wider her grin became.

After she was satisfied, she logged out and closed her laptop. She started to laugh a little, "He he he he!" The more she laughed, the more disturbing it sounded.

While reading all those rumors would have enough to scare some people and make them hope none of it was true, this girl hoped for the exact opposite. If she believed in a god, she would have prayed to him that every detail she had just read was true. The thought of fighting a true demon excited her.

She said with a sadistic look on her face, "Oh I hope you are real Devil-san and you keep up what you are doing. Then we may have a chance of meeting face-to-face, and I would make sure our meeting would be an unforgettable experience." She then raised her left hand to eye level and partially activated her powers, but not enough to cause an energy blast. "I look forward to seeing if you have a beating heart underneath that chest of yours."

The atmosphere was becoming considerably tense. It was a good thing there was no one else inside that room besides her. If they had witnessed this, they would be terrified that she would use them as target practice.

/

**Esper of Interest #2**

A young girl who was apparently an elementary school student and had long blonde was reading through the same website. Similar to the other girl, the interior of her room indicated she was from a wealthy background too. She had just finished going through all the rumors herself, and as she was going through them a smile appeared on her face. However, it was hard to tell if this smile was one that people should be happy to see or be frightened to death of.

After looking through a few more of the rumors she said to herself in an 'innocent' voice, "You seem like a very interesting person Devil-san. We have to meet someday. But how should that happen?"

The girl put her right hand to her chin as she pondered what she should do. After thinking it over for a few minutes, the girl came to a disappointing conclusion that now was not the time. She said to herself in a sad tone, "Well I suppose my powers still need to be developed. They are still lacking, and it would be foolish to go looking for him at this point."

Despite knowing of her current lack of power, it did not deter her from her ultimate goal. She said in a more cheery voice, "I guess it will be a few years before our first meeting, so please stay alive until then. Regardless of where you run or hide after I finish my Esper development, gain some followers, and obtain the right resources then," she said in a singing voice for emphasis, "I will find you."

The girl began to chuckle to herself, "After all what is a queen without a king?"

/

**Esper of Interest #3**

Tsuchimikado walked into a dark room, and it would appear that he was the only one there. However, after the door closed behind Tsuchimikado, a voice could be heard from all directions and the gender of this voice could not be identified. The voice angrily stated, "I thought I warned you not to come to this room without my permission."

While Tsuchimikado knew he probably would not stand a chance against the owner of this voice if this Esper decided to fight him, he remained composed. Tsuchimikado responded in his usual manner, "I only came here because there was something I wanted to discuss with you."

The voice already knew what the topic was going to be about. "Is it about your friend the 'Devil of Academy City'?"

Tsumikado knew there was no point in denying it, "You catch on pretty quick. How'd you know?"

The voice confidently stated, "As a Level Five, I consider it a priority to know the latest developments rumor or otherwise."

Tsumikado remarked "You know I find it amazing how you can act one way in public and be completely different when you're here."

The voice responded in an amused tone, "Well I find it amusing when I see others have their guard so relaxed when they are in front of me. They always think that I'm not nearly as strong as I truly am." The voice chuckled a little before asking, "Anyway what do you have to say about this Devil?"

Tsumikado stated, "Nothing much. Only that I think you two would make interesting friends."

The voice stated in a skeptical tone, "You really believe a friendship with someone like him can provide me a benefit."

Tsumikado was confident about this prediction. "Oh I know so. Kamiyan may talk big and set his goals a little too high, but his unique ability and determination proves to me he is more than just talk."

"Then you would care to enlighten me further on this?" The voice was clearly interested to know more.

Tsumikado gave a smug grin, "Of course."

/

**Esper of Interest #4**

An Esper with dirty blond hair scoffed at the very webpage he was reading, "Hm. 'Devil of Academy City' huh? This seems like nothing more than a laugh."

The girl wearing a dress who was also in the room said in a playful voice, "Aw. Is Kakine scared of running into the Devil?"

Kakine was a little annoyed at the girl's antics and had difficulty tolerating them as he responded, "Of course not Kokoro. In fact, it's the opposite. I'm the second most powerful Esper of Academy City, and I doubt this Devil could possibly be a threat to me." Despite not being entirely convinced regarding the rumors, there was an aspect of this 'Devil' that Kakine found most interesting. "However, I do believe these rumors might be worth investigating. There is a possibility this could help me overtake Accelerator and become the rightful number one Level Five Esper."

The girl referred to as Kokoro gave Kakine a playful smirk as she responded, "If you say so Kakine." She then turned to the other individual in the room and asked, "What do you think Megane?"

Megane was one of the Child Errors who used to live in the same facility as Touma, Ai, and Yuudai, but he managed to escape before he could be killed. Eventually, he had an unexpected run in with Kakine who decided to take him in because of Megane's intellect and potential usefulness. Megane acted as Kakine' faithful subordinate ever since.

In response to his colleague's question, Megane answered, "According to the rumors, the Devil's abilities can negate those of any Esper. Theoretically, I do believe it is possible since all Espers, including Level Zeros, give off an **AIM field** after going through the Esper development process. Depending on how certain factors are utilized, it could be possible to counteract the **AIM field** and render an ability useless. If we could find a way to utilize this ability, Kakine might be able to defeat Accelerator." He then showed the documentation that he had gathered on Kakine's rival. "The information I have gathered on Accelerator indicates that his body is relatively weak due to his over dependency of his powers. Unfortunately, for him, if it is possible to harness a power that can nullify his abilities, he will be vulnerable. The only question that remains is whether or not we can harness this ability."

Kakine was becoming excited at the prospect of surpassing Accelerator as he stated with a smug smile, "Well in that case, there is only one way to find out."

/

**Esper of Interest #5**

In an undisclosed laboratory, a woman scientist was apparently on a break looking through the urban legends when she was approached by an albino teenager. The Albino was surprised to see what the scientist was viewing. It did not seem like her at all. He said, "I never would have thought you were the type to look up rumors on the internet Yoshikawa."

The scientist referred to as Yoshikawa responded in a bored tone, "A friend of mine on the Anti-Skill told me she believed the person these rumors refer to is real. She has been to a great number of crime scenes that have involved this 'Devil of Academy City,' but she is certain that a number of these rumors are also exaggerations. However, there is one thing that concerns me about these rumors."

While the Albino was not really interested in hearing more about these rumors, he figured that he might as well listen since he had nothing better to do. "And that would be?"

Yoshikawa responded, "This 'Devil of Academy City' supposedly has the ability to negate Esper abilities." That was enough to catch the Albino's attention. "If this is true, you could be in trouble if you are ever in a position to fight him"

The Albino scoffed at what Yoshikawa was saying. "You almost sound like your worried about me. There is no Esper that can defeat me, and you know it. Not one exists in this city or this world. Don't forget my power is known as Vector Change. If someone even tries to lay a hand on me, they will spend a week in a hospital bed if their lucky."

Yoshikawa criticized the Albino for taking these rumors nonchalantly. "You are overestimating yourself again Accelerator. Don't forget your Vector Change is not absolute. There are methods to render your power ineffective, and you should always keep them in mind. Need I remind you that you would not be standing here now if I did not interfere in one of the previous experiments you were involved in? The end you would have faced that day would have been gruesome and ironic."

Accelerator's eyes were full of fury and he roughly grabbed Yoshikawa's shoulder. "Sometimes I think you forget that it is easy for me to kill anyone I please. You can shoot me, and I will deflect the bullets. You try punching me, and I can shatter your arm. If I want to, I could kill you right now just by touching your shoulder. The only thing that is stopping my power from doing that to you is my own will. No one can defeat my ability."

Despite hearing Accelerator say this, Yoshikawa did not appear to be frightened. She maintained her ground as she calmly responded, "But you're not going to kill me. You know as well as I do that it would serve you no purpose to kill me. I know you have standards."

After she said that, Accelerator smirked as he responded, "Hm. You're right. Killing you would be ungrateful of me." He let go of Yoshikawa's shoulder, "I think we should continue with the next experiment."

/

**Esper of Interest #6**

A boy who appeared to be groomed and mild mannered, was finished reading the rumors for the Devil of Academy City." He was looking upon the rumors with great interest because he was well aware of a number of the recent Esper related hospitalizations. Regardless of the authenticity of the rumors, this would explain the rising number of Espers being sent to the hospital.

The boy thought to himself, _"That was truly the work of a vigilante. People who take the law into their own hands should not be tolerated."_

After he said that he put his hands on his head, and his hair went from being combed to spiky, and he tied his red bandana over his forehead. He unzipped the jacket he was wearing and made it into a makeshift cape revealing a shirt that had the symbol of the Japanese flag. This boy transformed into a completely different person than he was five minutes ago.

His voice went from being quiet and reserved to extremely loud despite being inside a dorm, and it was becoming louder by the second. "I will not tolerate this. I shall use all my power as a Level Five to use all my GUTS to bring this 'Devil' to justice. It is my duty as a Level Five to ensure the rules are followed." You would think he was announcing this to a group of people, but he was the only one in the room. However, his speech did draw plenty of attention.

There was a knock on his door, and there was a voice with an irritated tone, "Yo! Guhna can you keep it down in there some of us are trying to study!"

Immediately, the boy's voice changed back to being reserved and quiet as he sheepishly apologized, "Sorry."

/

**Esper of Interest #7**

The Esper known as, Misaka Mikoto had just launched another successful Railgun attack while her friend and scientist supervisor Hakaru Shinjitsu observed. She said over the intercom, "That's enough for today Mikoto-san. It's time to call it a day."

While Mikoto wanted to press on, and continue developing her abilities, even she could see that she was starting to run out of energy. It was not likely her body would allow her to continue for as long as her spirit wished. As a result, she reluctantly agreed, "Okay."

Hakaru enthusiastically told Mikoto, "Your abilities keep on improving. The number of successive Railguns you can do in one minute keeps increasing. At this rate you will be added to the list of elite Level Fives within a few months."

Mikoto herself was becoming hopeful at the prospect of becoming a Level Five as well. "I hope your right. I don't know why, but it just feels like with the way my training has been going reaching Level Five no longer feels like a dream."

Hakaru was starting to become real excited that she might be witnessing history in the making. "Right now there are only five of them, but with you and that other rumored Esper other scientists have mentioned; we may see that list increase to seven within a year. This is so exciting."

Even though Mikoto has been going through the process herself for these years, it was hard for her to believe it was really happening. "You're telling me. When I first came here, I was not sure what I would really be capable of. When they originally told me I was only a Level One when I first started, it was such a disappointment. However, you and the other scientists told me that if I worked hard I will be able to become stronger. And I have. I will finally be able to live up to what others have expected out of me."

Hakaru asked, "Is there anyone in particular you are referring to?"

Mikoto weakly denied, "Um . . . no"

Hakaru could see through Mikoto's lie, but she decided not to press on. "Well as much as I am glad you are improving, However, I hope you aren't going to use it as an excuse to keep going on those 'justice tours' of yours."

Mikoto tried to deny that as well. "What . . . what are you talking about?"

Hakaru sternly told Mikoto, "Don't lie. I know about those punks you fried the other day by the vending machine and the ones you electrocuted last week in the alleyway."

Mikoto was quick to defend her actions. "I wasn't looking for people to fry. Those punks ran into me, and I didn't see Judgment or the Anti-Skill nearby. What else was I supposed to do?"

Hakaru could not think of a response at first. The only thing she could come up with was, "That's actually a good question. It is a question that cannot be easily answered. Still you should be careful out there. I don't want people to think you are on the wrong side of the law or run into an opponent you can't handle."

Mikoto confidently told Hakaru, "You don't have to worry about that. I can handle myself."

While she knew that Mikoto could do that, she was still uneasy considering recent events and rumors. "You are probably right, but there is something I think I should talk to you about."

Mikoto curiously asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

Hakaru responded to Mikoto with a question of her own. "Well have you heard the rumors of the new vigilante?"

Mikoto responded, "You mean the Devil of Academy City?"

"Yes." Hakaru was glad that she did not need to explain everything to Mikoto.

Mikoto confidently told Hakaru, "I'm not worried at all."

It was Hakaru's turn to be curious, "Why not?"

Mikoto explained, "If the rumors are true, he seems like someone who is trying to protect people in Academy City from those who would try to harm them." Mikoto smiled as she said this last part, "When I think about it like that, he and I do not seem too far apart. Despite what some might say, I think he is probably a good person."

Hakaru wanted to make sure Mikoto understood the reality about vigilantes. She told Mikoto in a firm voice, "Perhaps. However, assuming he is real, only time will tell if he really will be a threat to society. People such as him might start off with good intentions but unless they have something to remind them of who they are, they may lose their path."

Hearing that did not seem to bother Mikoto too much. She merely responded, "Well until I know more there is no need to worry."

"True. We will just have to wait until more is known." For a moment the conversation appeared to be over, but Hakaru remembered something else that she wanted to speak with Mikoto, "There is also one more thing I wish to speak to you about young lady."

Based on Hakaru's voice, Mikoto was a little more nervous to know what this topic would be about. "What is it?"

She gave Mikoto the look of an integrator before asking, "What is this I hear about you kicking a vending machine to get free drinks?"

Mikoto once again proved how poor she was at denying such allegations. "I. . . I don't know what you are talking about."

"Liar." Hakaru was comically accused Mikoto, "When you do those kicks, you are giving those onlookers quite a show of what's underneath your skirt aren't you!?"

Mikoto was quick to deny that part and said, "No way! That's not true! You know I always wear shorts underneath my skirt, so I can avoid people from seeing my underwear when I kick things!"

Little did Mikoto know that she had fallen into Hakaru's trap. Hakaru said to Mikoto in a playfully smug fashion, "You immediately went to deny the possibility of a giving others a panty shot rather than maintaining your innocence of 'kicking things.' I knew you were lying."

The look on Mikoto's face told the whole story. Mikoto proceeded to face palm herself as she thought, _"Crap."_

/

Shortly after his meeting with one of Academy City's Level Five Espers, the freelance spy Tsuchimikado Motoharu received a call for another request of his services. It was not unusual for all kinds of people to request him. While he has gained a reputation for maintaining multiple affiliations at the same time even if they are conflicting, he will complete the task you ask of him as long as you pay him. This caller figured Tsuchimikado would be just as likely to work for the opposing force, but the caller did not care. At this point, the caller was becoming desperate to achieve an objective that needed to be completed.

As soon as he answered the voice went straight to the point, "I understand that you are capable of handling any job as long as you are paid your proper fees." The voice was clearly female, and she sounded extremely tired.

Tsuchimikado went into a 'playful business' mode as he responded, "You heard correct. What can I do you for?"

The voice responded, "I have been hearing rumors regarding a new experiment that is going on behind the scenes of Academy City. It is an experiment that allows Espers that have little to no powers of their own to suddenly gain an ability to wield."

Hearing that was hardly surprising to Tsuchimikado given his connections and profession. "That is interesting. I have recently heard rumors of that nature circulating as well."

This voice was not surprised to hear him say that either. "I would have expected as much from you. Are you interested in helping me learn more then?"

Tsumikado gave a smirk as he confidently stated, "Of course, but first let's take care of the details of my employment."

/

Location: Heaven Canceller's Hospital

Kimura Takaya laid in his hospital bed. As the "Devil" told him, he would be spending sometime in the hospital before being sent to prison. Personally, he believed this was a worse punishment. In prison, he would at least be able to stand up, walk around his cell, and beat up other prisoners. However, in this place, not only were his legs killing him, but here he was stuck in this bed, and he hands were handcuffed to the bed posts. Takaya was incapable of moving around at all. However, he figured that was exactly what the Devil wanted him to experience. This caused his blood to boil as his hatred for that masked demon continued to grow.

He cursed to himself, "I swear I'm going to get that son of a bitch one day. I swear it."

A few minutes after he made that 'oath,' a woman dressed in an Anti-Skill outfit entered his room. It was not the one who was involved in both of his arrests. This woman wore glasses and had long orange hair. The aura this woman gave off differed greatly from that other woman, but he could not quite place it.

She said to Takaya, "So you are one of his latest victims. You don't seem like much. It was no wonder he was able to put you and your subordinates in his place."

He angrily responded, "You wouldn't be saying that to me if my hands weren't cuffed. You would be begging for mercy if I could use them."

The woman mocked Takaya, "Such strong words coming from someone who was incapable of attaining Esper abilities of his own and had to resort to assaulting those who were weaker. Even then, you needed to recruit others to help ensure you were not incapable of handling tasks as simple as that."

His anger was growing by the second. "Well what do you know? When you have no way of gaining powers of your own, almost every door will be closed on you unless you have the right friends or financial support. People like me need to do whatever it takes to survive and why not have a little fun while doing it?"

The woman seemed like she could to an extent 'relate' to this thug. "All true. Quite frankly, you are not the most pathetic insect I have seen."

Takaya replied on reflex, "You bitch."

She scoffed at the insult since she has been called worse. "You should take that as a compliment. That just means you have something that could still prove to be invaluable. This is why I am here to make you an offer."

He asked her in bitter tone, "What makes you think I would want one from you?"

She explained, "This is an offer that will allow you to acquire what you have desired for a long time. You will be granted Esper abilities."

That offer did catch Takaya's attention, but he was more than skeptical at the offer, "You're kidding right? What makes you think you could do that for me? Besides, even if you could do that for me, I'm in the middle of a few legal matters right now, and I am pretty certain this one will stick."

The woman confidently told him, "I know because I'm able to. Additionally, this would not be the first time I have provided you aid with your less than reputable past. Quite frankly, without my interference, you would probably be in prison right now for your past crimes."

His eyes opened in surprise when she said that. "What makes you think I would believe you are responsible for what happened with that?"

The woman expected that answer. "I believe this should provide you with proof."

She pulled out some documentation and put it right in front for him to see. It was documentation regarding his previous arrest as well as court documents regarding his release. There was also documentation regarding why Yomikawa Ahio would be unable to provide a proper testimony without the presence of the Child Errors who were either killed or went missing after the destruction of the Child Error Facility. This was documentation that was not freely available to the public and only people with connections could acquire it.

That was enough to get Takaya interested in continuing this conversation, but he wanted to know at least one other thing about this woman. "Who are you?"

The woman introduced herself, "My name is Theristina Kihara Lifeline, and I am the one is holds the key to your freedom and your power."

Takaya asked in a skeptical tone, "Why are you so interested in helping me?"

Theristina told him in a tone you would mistake for being sincere, "Because you are capable of much more than what those other scientists thought. Due to my belief in you, I have helped you before, and I am willing to help you again. However, you must be willing to participate in a new experiment that will allow you gain Esper abilities, and you must promise that you would be willing to fight the Devil of Academy City."

Unfortunately for Takaya, he believed that faux sincerity, and was most intrigued by this experiment. However, before he made the promise, he asked, "Would you be willing to free my subordinates as well?"

She reassured him, "Of course. I wouldn't dream of forgetting them." There was something more sinister lying underneath her words, but Takaya was not able to sense that.

After hearing that Takaya could not refuse the offer. "You have a deal then. Tell me what the experiment is."

Lifeline answered, "You will find out more about the project later, but I suppose I can tell you the project's name. The project is known as 'Beta-Zero.'"

/

**Omake**:

Mikoto: Damn that was a long hiatus. It is great to finally be back.

Touma: Yeah I know. After being gone for nearly six months, it feels incredible to finally return.

Mikoto: Do you know why we were put on hiatus in the first place? I thought the author planned to start this story a little sooner than this.

Touma: The author did plan on it, but there were two factors that delayed the production of new chapters.

Mikoto: What reasons were those?

Touma: Well the first one was receiving inspiration to write a new story. The author happened to see a fanart picture for Sword Art Online and it gave the author inspiration to begin writing the story Fairy Dance Alternate. It's only a few chapters in, but it has proven to be a lengthy and well received story. I would recommend checking it out.

Mikoto: What about those who don't know the Sword Art Online franchise that well.

Touma: Well that is the beauty of it. The first three chapters of Fairy Dance Alternate are a retelling of the first story arc from a different perspective, so those who are not familiar with the franchise will learn a number of things regarding the characters, relationships, terminology, and the plot. Additionally, it would give those familiar with the franchise a fresh look at some of the events that happened during the first story arc as well. It is during the third chapter when the story diverges from the canon storyline and enters the new territory. Subsequently, the following three chapters take place during the two and a half month time period prior to the main character Asuna entering Alfheim Online, and they focus strongly on character development, reflection, interaction, and relationships.

Mikoto: Well that sounds interesting. Anyway, what was the second reason for the delay?

Touma: Well the second reason was due to the lack of feedback Knowledgeseeker66 was receiving from the readers of this story.

Mikoto: What are you kidding?

Touma: Not in the least. Fairy Dance Alternate has received a much higher level of feedback than this story has. After the first five chapters were released, that story had more than a hundred and forty followers and favorites as well as more than eighty reviews. However, with this story, those numbers have been significantly less after eleven chapters. Needless to say, I don't blame the author for having more motivation to write Fairy Dance Alternate. As of this moment, the author plans on alternating between writing our story and Fairy Dance Alternate, and I wouldn't be surprised if that story will be of the higher priority. Not to mention that apparently, the author also has inspiration to begin writing another Sword Art Online related fanfiction story as well, which will be more of a secondary project.

Mikoto: That sounds like a lot of fanfiction writing the author is taking on. I miss the days when the author would only focus on our story, but I guess those days are gone. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that the author didn't decide to cancel the story then and has every intention of finishing what was started, even if it will be at a slower pace.

Touma: No kidding. Anyway, Stormwolfex told the author a number of facts regarding my time in the Big Spider, and the author plans on revealing those details throughout this side story. That is something we can all look forward to, but it will be easier for the author to feel motivated to get that point if we receive more feedback.

Mikoto: You hear that readers. Be sure to leave us some more reviews, so we can get this story going. It does not matter whether you are a member of this website or a guest/anonymous reader because Knowledgeseeker66 accepts both kinds of reviews.

Touma: (_Realizes he is forgetting something_) Oh yeah. There is something else we need to promote as well.

Mikoto: What's that?

Touma: You of all people should know this. "A Certain Scientific Railgun" is coming to DVD next month which is April 2013. Not to mention that "A Certain Magical Index" is also currently available on DVD as well. It was released back in December 2012. You can order them both at respective anime related retailers, especially Amazon.

Mikoto: Holy crap! I completely forgot about that!

Touma: It would be good for the fans to support the official English release of the anime, so we can ensure the later seasons of Index and Railgun will be licensed for English as well.

Mikoto: Speaking of which, be sure to check out the new season of Railgun also known as "Railgun S" that will begin airing in April 2013.

Touma: I wonder what is with the "S" anyway.

Mikoto: I'm pretty certain it is meant to stand for "Sisters," which means this will be an adaptation for the Railgun version of the "Sisters Arc." This also means that Accelerator will be making his Railgun debut and Mugino and the rest of Item will be making their proper anime debut outside of that pathetic four second cameo they received.

Touma: Hopefully, fans won't be disappointed with that.

Mikoto: Me too.

(_The omake switches focus from Touma and Mikoto to Accelerator and Hamazura_)

Hamazura: Well at least you managed to make a proper appearance in this story outside of that cameo you received in Chapter 2. You feel any better about that?

Accelerator: A little, but why did the author label the current and future Level Five Espers as an "Esper of Interest?"

Hamazura: You didn't know? The author is a fan of the American TV show "Person of Interest" that airs on CBS, so the author decided to reference that show.

Accelerator: Well that's original.

Hamazura: I doubt there are any other Index or Railgun related fanfiction stories that have used a reference from "Person of Interest."

Accelerator: (_He thinks about it for a moment_) I guess there is no arguing with that.

Hamazura: (_becoming suspicious_) You seem a little mellow today. Who are you and what have you done with Accelerator?

Accelerator: (_getting a little irritated from that remark_) What are you talking about? I am Accelerator. They never attempted to produce a clone of me like they did for the Railgun.

Hamazura: I don't believe you. You are definitely not him.

Accelerator: (_He slams his foot on the ground that causes the floor to begin cracking into pieces and nearly causes the building to collapse and frightens Hamazura_) Is that proof enough?

Hamazura: (_He becomes quite frightened and tries to speak calmly_) Okay. I believe you. Let's try to not destroy the building again. (_He thinks to himself_) _Why do I always have to do this segment with him?_

/

**Author Notes**: As the omake has stated, if feels good to be writing a chapter for my first fanfiction story again. It was not too difficult getting back into the grove of writing for this story. I guess it helps that I had already made a number of plans regarding the direction of a number of future chapters, so it eased the process to write it again. It definitely pays to have a lot of plotlines planned in advanced.

While I do plan on fulfilling my promise to produce a several chapters for "Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories," throughout 2013, this story will not be my only focus. I plan on going back to writing "Fairy Dance Alternate" as well as producing chapters for my new currently 'untitled' Sword Art Online fanfiction story. While I have a lot of things planned out for the new story as well, I will be remaining tight lipped regarding what this story will be about until July.

As stated in my omake, "A Certain Magical Index" is already available on DVD and "A Certain Scientific Railgun" will be available next month. Be sure to support the official English release of the anime. The best place to do it would most likely be on Amazon. I hope you will enjoy watching the franchise on DVD as much as I do.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the return for "Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories," and will provide a review. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated. Additionally, a poll has been created regarding future plotlines for the storyline. I hope you will participate in that as well.

/

**Fanfiction Promo**

_Fairy Dance Alternate – Sword Art Online Fanfiction_

_Premise:____What would happen if Sugou had kidnapped Kirito instead of Asuna by accident?_

_Story Arc One – How We Got to Here – Chapters 1-3_

It is a retelling of the first story arc. These three chapters act as a prologue to the main story with Asuna narrating the events of the Sword Art Online rather than Kirito before they diverge from the canon storyline in the third chapter. It allows people less familiar with the franchise to learn more about the plotline.

_Story Arc Two – Return to Reality – Chapters 4-6_

Asuna tries to move on with her life in the aftermath of Sword Art Online and interacts with her fellow survivors and other friends on a regular basis while trying to cope with living in the real world again and Kirito is still trapped in a coma. This story arc focuses heavily on character development, reflection, and interactions. You will also read some references to Japanese culture as well.

_Story Arc Three – Origin of the Photo – First chapter of the story arc coming in April_

Find out what happened to Kirito during the two and a half months of being trapped in Alfheim Online on his own. Who did he meet? What did he do? What did he witness? Be sure to find out more.

If you are interested, please read the story and provide a review. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.


	13. Story IV: The Devil's Reign Part II

**Author Notes**: For those of you who do not know, has started to allow people to use up to four characters for fanfiction story filtering. I consider it a good thing since it does allow us to label more than two characters as being the main characters of a story. It is also good because it can allow you to add characters that are not part of your 'main pairing' for the story to be part of the filter as well. Personally, I feel that is especially true for all the stories I am currently writing because while I consider my 'main pairings' to be the main characters for the plotline, there are other characters that have or will contribute to the plot, and they deserve to receive 'recognition' as well.

As a result of this new development, I have listed Kurozuma Wataru and Konori Mii as being main characters starting from the previous chapter. I always planned on those two characters being upgraded to 'main character' status eventually, but I did not think I would actually be able to label them as such on the filter system. Prior to Chapter Twelve, those two were reoccurring in a few of the previous chapters with Wataru appearing in five different chapters and Konori appearing in two and being mentioned in another. However, as of Chapter Twelve, I consider their importance to be upgraded due to their increased screen time, and their roles in current and future plotlines.

You can expect there to be more character and relationship development for Touma, Wataru, and Konori in later chapters since they are the main characters of this story arc. You can also expect plenty of screen time to be given to other characters, such as Mikoto, but they will not have as much of the limelight. In this chapter particularly, there will be plenty of characters besides those three that will be receiving screen time in this chapter.

I hope you enjoy this new chapter, and I hope you will leave a review after you are finished reading.

/

Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories

Side Story IV: The Devil's Reign Part II

Chapter Thirteen: The Rising Darkness

/

If you go alone

The darkness will swallow you

You will need some help

/

In an unknown alleyway of Academy City, a young boy could be heard shouting at his opponent, "I'll shatter that illusion of yours." His shout is then followed by hearing what sounds like mixture of a punch and shattering glass. It was the sound of Kamijou Touma a.k.a. Temna Ginjou, who had dubbed himself, 'The Devil of Academy City,' taking down yet another Esper who was attempting to harm innocent civilians.

After Touma had successfully beaten this Esper, he proceeded to do his traditional coup de grace, and fired two bullets into his opponent's legs. Screams of pains could be heard as Touma proceeded to tell the rescued victims that he means them no harm, and to contact Anti-Skill after a few minutes had gone by. This provided him with more than enough time to escape. At the end of a day, another dangerous Esper was off the streets, would be victims were not harmed, and the devil had managed to escape to fight another day.

This would lead to more rumors added to the urban legend, and it would cause more frustrations within the Anti-Skill department. The Anti-Skill that would be frustrated the most would be Yomikawa Ahio. However, unlike some Anti-Skill that wanted nothing more than to arrest the Devil, she only wanted to find and protect him. She could tell from the witnesses from the multiple scenes she had visited that the 'Devil' was a good person at heart and had the best of intentions, but she also knew that sooner or later he would most likely get himself killed.

If that was not enough, based on the witness reports, most people would estimate that this 'devil' was nothing more than a teenage boy. That information only served to increase Yomikawa's motivation to find the 'Devil' because as long as there was something she could do about it, she would not let any child die. Due to being an Anti-Skill, she had seen her fair share of tragedies involving children. She was not about to let history repeat itself this time.

Unfortunately, despite Yomikawa's best efforts, they would only get her so far without any help. However, her devotion to her duty as an Anti-Skill and a teacher, attracted the attention of one of the advisors for a Board of Director of Academy City. Her name was Kumokawa Seria. She had previously attended the same school as Touma and was his sempai by one year. While his behavior did not attract the attention of any normal individual, it attracted her attention.

/

Even at her young age, Kumokawa Seria was rather skilled at manipulating others. Through her use of various people, she was able to successfully put together Touma's past where the school system failed to check. It was her investigation that attracted the attention of Kaizumi Tsugutoshi, who is one of the twelve Academy City's Board of Directors. He could be described as being one of the few 'white sheep' in that group of people. If it had been anyone else who had taken notice of her abilities first, what could have happened to Seria would likely to have been far less pleasant.

Kaizumi Tsugutoshi confronted Seria directly, and he offered her a position to become his personal advisor, which she was more than happy to accept. As a result, Seria has lived a comfortable life and has managed to gain a multitude of connections throughout all of Academy City. There were very few people in Academy City as well connected as her. If she wanted to find something out about what is happening in Academy City, more likely than not Seria would learn or accurately deduce the facts she desired to learn in a matter of time. This would lead her to being one of the first outside of the Big Spider to correctly speculate the truth.

At that moment, Seria was not one hundred percent certain of the 'Devil's' identity, but after her own investigation, she was able to correctly guess. Unlike any of the others who wished to know the truth, she had all the pieces that were necessary to solve this puzzle at her disposal. After Seria picked up where she left off in her investigation in Touma's life, she was aware of his disappearance far quicker than his parents or the authorities. Based on his activities, she was able to figure out he was practically erasing his very existence at around the time of his thirteenth birthday.

What would seem like ordinary activities that would go largely unnoticed by others, such as quitting a job or closing a bank account, were actually part of a grander attempt to erase traces of his existence or at least throw others off his trail. About a week or so after his thirteenth birthday, the 'Devil' made his debut and has been at large ever since. Unless you could see the bigger picture, you would not think much of his actions, and you most likely would fail to make the connection. After putting all of these pieces together, it became obvious to Seria that the 'Devil' was Kamijou Touma, and she felt compelled to do something.

Similar to Yomikawa, Seria did not have any desire to see the 'Devil' die. However, Seria knew that if she were to do anything to intervene too soon, it could do more harm than good. Due to being the 'advisor' for Kaizumi Tsugutoshi, she was aware of the existence of Aliester Cromwell, the General Director of Academy City, but she had not had the privilege of speaking to him at that point. However, from her understanding, he was not someone you could or should take lightly. Apparently, he was a man that exceeded at producing multiple plans that worked together and capable of 'reworking' them if any deviations arose.

It was Seria's belief that Kamijou Touma's time as the 'Devil' was most likely one of those plans. Seria speculated to herself, _"While it does seem like he is capable of escaping the authorities on his own, I would think that if he posed a significant threat, the General Director would have begun taking actions. However, it does not appear that is the case unless the General Director wishes to see things run their course. Could he be testing Kamijou-san? Does he wish for him to fight all of these criminals to gain something?"_

Seria knew that she could ponder the situation all day, but she knew it would not get her anywhere. While Seria knew that she may have the connections that could help Touma, she knew that she lacked the physical 'capabilities' of being able to handle this situation herself. She decided that she needed someone who could help her. Eventually, she decided that Yomikawa Ahio would be perfect. However, she knew that she needed to wait for the right moment before she could confront Yomikawa with this possible 'proposal' to help the 'Devil.' Little did Seria know that the opportunity that she was waiting for would present itself approximately two months later.

However, Seria was not the type to simply wait for the opportunity to show up. If she waited too long for an obvious opportunity, she knew that she probably would let a few less obvious ones slip through her fingers. As good as she was at investigating, manipulating others, and maintaining essential connections, there were limits to her abilities. She needed someone who had the capability of keeping an eye on this Anti-Skill. Due to her connections, she had the phone of the person she needed to call.

Seria dialed the phone number she was given. She was told that the person on the other end of the line would be the person she should contact if she ever required information or to keep tabs on someone else. Seria knew that the person she would be contacting would not be the most trustworthy individual, but his skills had proven to be impressive for someone his age. She believed that it would be worth the risk.

The person answered her phone call answered in a playfully serious voice, "Hello this is Tsuchimikado Motoharu. Since you are calling on this line, you are probably here to ask for my services correct?"

Seria responded in a serious tone, "Well you certainly like to get to the point now don't you?"

Tsuchimikado's voice began to sound less playful as he stated, "That's how this world works. Since you are part of a world that is aware of what I do, you should know that."

Seria knew that Tsuchimikado had a point and reluctantly agreed, "Very true. In that case, I do have some work for you. My name is Kumokawa Seria, and there is a certain someone that I wish for you to keep tabs on for me. She works for the Anti-Skill. Are you willing to engage in that type of work for me?"

Tsuchimikado chuckled as he said, "I wouldn't be good in this business if I could not handle an assignment as simple as that. What's her name?"

Seria stated in a business like fashion, "Her name is Yomikawa Ahio. I wish for you to keep tabs on her for the next several months, and I wish for you to provide me with weekly reports on her activities if nothing stands out. However, if something 'interesting' does happen, I want you to report it to me immediately."

Tsuchimikado thought to himself, _"It would appear that Anti-Skill in particular has caught many people's interests._ He then remarked, "Define 'interesting.' It is a rather vague and broad word after all."

She explained, "I define 'interesting' as anything that goes beyond her doing her routine work as an Anti-Skill or a teacher."

Tsuchimikado felt there was no need for further explanation. "I see. That won't be a problem then. In that case, let's negotiate the terms of my employment and compensation."

Seria was pleased by how easy it was to recruit Tsuchimikado's services. She had a feeling it would not really be that difficult, but it would be her first time recruiting the services of this individual. Seria also knew the next part would be even easier for her. She confidently told him, "Very well. Negotiations should be a simple task."

The 'negotiations' were concluded faster than Tsuchimikado expected, and he would be more than satisfied with the compensation he would be receiving. It would be rather substantial and rewarding. As a result, this would be one job that Tsuchimikado would be more enthusiastic about performing.

/

It had been nearly two months since Touma had made his debut as the 'Devil of Academy City.' In that short period of time, Touma has vanquished numerous opponents that ranged from Espers who abused their powers, to non-ability users who liked picking on the weak, to crazy vicious Espers who wanted the honor of defeating the Devil. These actions had caused various rumors to surface and thus formed the urban legend that numerous people in Academy City would remember for years to come.

It was correctly speculated that the Devil was a member of Skill-Out, but due to factors, such as the Devil always managed to dodge the authorities and use unmarked weapons that were untraceable, there was no 'official' way to truly connect the Devil with Skill-Out. Any other method they could use would be considered either highly illegal or an abuse of power. While there were times in the past when Anti-Skills would be willing to take that chance in order to neutralize a violent offender like the Devil that was not the case at this time. Apparently, certain 'factors' were making some of the senior Anti-Skill members more hesitant to take matters beyond attempting to catch the Devil in the act.

Touma and his friends had witnessed both favorable and unfavorable consequences of the Devil's rise to fame. As one would expect, Touma would soon learn firsthand several additionally unfavorable results. They would be results that would prove to be nearly fatal to him and others.

/

**Location: Inside an unknown building in Academy City**

In an unknown part of Academy City, there were several Espers speaking among themselves in a 'strategy meeting' of sorts. Similar to Arakaki Rin, they were interested in rising to fame by taking down the Devil as well. However, they had a different idea in mind, and their circumstances differed a little as well.

A high pitched female voice asked in an uncertain voice, "Are you sure everything is prepared?"

In response, a deep male voice stated, "I have ensured we are taking as many precautions as we can. We have a lookout and additional backup posted. It does not matter how good this Devil's fighting skills are. I doubt he would be able to fight so many at once. Besides, you should also have the backup plan in your possession."

The female said, "Yes I do have it with me. I just wish to make sure we have everything because I believe we have only one shot at this. We need to ensure this Devil can't escape, and we can grant him an agonizing death."

The male voice responded in a voice filled with confidence. "It will be done. You don't have to worry. Before the end of this week, we will have the 'Devil of Academy City's' head on a platter. All you need to do is fulfill your role."

Then the female chuckled. "You don't have to worry about me. There will be no mistakes on my part."

The male voice responded, "Good. Then the 'Hunters' should have no issue with successfully eliminating yet another undesirable within Academy City, and it will be one elimination that will finally earn us the legacy we deserve." The male began to chuckle to himself in a sinister tone.

/

**Location – The Strange – Big Spider Territory**

The Big Spider is a faction of Skill-Out that is located in an area known as 'The Strange.' This area is inside School District 10, area G of Academy City, and as one would expect, it is filled gang-related activity. At one point in Academy City's history, it appeared as any other district of Academy City. It had wind turbines and cleaning robots, but the entire area fell into disrepair as it became populated by Level Zero Espers who were ostracized by others due to their failure to gain a true Esper ability. It was here that these outcasts began to form the numerous present day gangs, including the various Skill Out fractions. These factors are what lead to the current urban decay this area has been facing for the past few years.

The area is filled with trash and the remains of cleaning and security robots. The walls are covered in graffiti as far as the eye could see. Even with Academy City's technology, if they were to start today, it could easily take years to fully revive this area. Additionally, the numerous abandoned buildings are used by the various Skill-Out groups, such as Big Spider, and the various other gangs that have settled there. Even if you wished to find one particular gang member, you would be trying to find a needle in a haystack.

It is an area that is not only uninviting, but it is easy for its residents to hide. There are times when an Anti-Skill member would enter certain sections of the Strange, and it would seem like a ghost town. If the gang members do not want you to find them, you will not find them on your own. However, if they want you to find them, you will need to be prepared.

Very few individuals dare to enter this territory unless they are affiliated with one of the gangs. Espers who have abilities are generally not welcomed there. Even Espers who have low level powers of a Level One or Two are discriminated against. It also goes without saying that the residents of this area do not take kindly to authority figures from groups, such as Anti-Skill or Judgment. Entering the Strange if you do not have an affiliation or some business with one of the gang member is a foolish decision, but it is even more foolish if you go alone.

If more families were aware of this area's existence before they sent their children here, the number of students in Academy City would be significantly lower than what it is today. However, whenever families are touring the city to get a feel for it, this area and any areas that would be able to see 'The Strange' have been conveniently skipped. Even if families find out about this area somehow, it is usually long after their children have become accustomed to the city, and their child has made progress in his/her Esper training. As a result, learning of this area would have become far less relevant to them at that point.

/

**Established Members of Big Spider**: Besides Touma, Wataru, and Konori, there were numerous other members that filled the ranks of Big Spider. Several of them had been with Big Spider since its inception. Wataru was the leader of this group, and everyone respected him for his ideals and his abilities. Even though he was a Level Zero, he had proven himself capable of defeating numerous opponents whether they were Espers with powers or average people wielding weapons. Many of the members were drawn to him, and they rightfully looked up to him.

**Hebitani Tsuguo**: He gives off the appearance of a delinquent due to having his black hair styled into a perm, the small mustache, and the style of his leather jacket. Hebitani would not be someone that anyone could entrust a 'discreet mission' to. Although, while he is far from being the most reliable member when it comes to certain missions, he makes up for it with his loyalty to the Big Spider and enthusiasm. Some believe that if he had the proper motivation he might have the charisma to become a leader someday within the Skill-Out.

Hebitani has been Wataru's friend since the beginning of the Big Spider and has devoutly followed Wataru's ideals. It is Hebitani's wish to uphold Wataru's ideals to the tee. However, prior to his friendship with Wataru, Hebitani was not nearly as 'stable' as he is now. Some members of the Big Spider believe that if anything were to happen to Wataru, Hebitani would most likely begin following a path that would lead to disastrous results.

**Tsukuda Kyuzo**: This man has blue eyes and silver hair that is long enough to reach past the bottom of his neck. He generally has his hair tied similar to how samurai tied their hair back during the Edo period. Kyuzo also has a long scar that runs down the left side of his face. According to him, it was the first 'war wound' he could ever claim to be proud of. Apparently, he has several other wounds on his body, but he states they tell stories that are better left unsaid, and he tries to keep them covered up as best as he can.

Kyuzo claims to be descended from a long line of samurai. While no one including Wataru has attempted to prove or disprove his claim, they seem willing to accept it, especially based on how highly he values his sword. It was as if he embodied the saying that the 'samurai's sword is his life.' Whenever, Kyuzo is in 'The Strange' or carrying out a mission, he always carries his sword on his back. However, when he is in public, he usually finds 'interesting methods' to conceal his weapon or at least hide it in an area that is close to his location and easy to get to. In addition to his regular sword, he also keeps a tanto, a traditional Japanese short sword, on his person at all times. He rarely uses the sword, but will use if he deems it necessary.

While Kyuzo appears to be someone who has a lot to say, he usually keeps to himself, and he remains quiet most of the time. Apparently, he believes that it would be better for people to not listen to his ideas, but he will provide input when he believes it is necessary. Similar to Touma, Wataru is one of the few people he will freely speak to. Kyuzo is talented at masking his emotions, but even he has his limits. He has personally taught people the consequences of what it means to anger him, which has caused him to be feared by many within the Big Spider with the exceptions of Wataru and several others.

**Current Anti-Esper Squad Members**: Similar to Touma, they had been training to be capable of combating Espers. Several of the most notable members are **Ueno Akira**, **Wakahisa Daiki**, **Hisakawa Takahiro, **and** Kato Haru**. A few of these members had personally participated in the fight with combating Ketsueki'sgang in the aftermath of the Child Error facility massacre. However, due to lacking Touma's Imagine Breaker, they do not fight on as regular a basis as he does. There have been a few unfortunate cases in the past, when despite their best efforts to prepare for any situation, they still met with casualties.

In order to reduce the likelihood of suffering casualties, other Big Spider members can find them training in their gym for a few hours every day. Due to how having an Esper ability can make a huge difference in terms of combat ability, they train rigorously for at least two or three hours a day to ensure they are in peak condition. They also received weapons training, but they would attempt to think of guns as a secondary course of actions because Wataru wished to avoid needless bloodshed if possible.

One of the few exceptions to avoiding bloodshed was when they fought Ketsueki's gang. Wataru and Komaba told them that fighting those Espers without the intent to kill them would result in their deaths instead. Needless to say, their loyalty to Wataru and Komaba is unparalleled. If Wataru and Komaba wish for them to kill others, they will do it without hesitation nor mercy. Almost any enemy that was not Ketsueki's gang that had to fight the Anti-Esper Squad should be grateful that Wataru and Komaba would prefer to end things short of killing their opponents.

/

**Newly Recruited Members of Big Spider**: As Konori had mentioned to Touma earlier, there has been an increase in the number of recruits they had received for Big Spider. A number of them felt as if they were disillusioned and lost without a true cause to fight. However, with the Devil's appearance and bringing down multiple dangerous Espers within a short period of time, it helped draw a number of people to the Big Spider due to it being correctly speculated that the Devil was a member. Most of them hoped that by joining Big Spider, it would give them inspiration of their own and something worth fighting for. Several of these new members were able to bring something unique to the table.

**Hashimoto Jiro**: He can be constantly seen wearing goggles over his eyes. They are dark to the point that you would not be able to see what his eyes look like, but their real color is brown. He is a man in his late twenties to early thirties who has a shaved head and a clean shaven face. However, Jiro's eyebrows would indicate that he would have brown hair. He prefers having no hair on his head because he would rather not take the chance of it being ripped off, burnt, or caught in something. Apparently, something of that nature did happen to him at some point in his life. He would prefer to avoid that happening again.

Unlike other members of Big Spider his talents do not include fighting. In fact, his fighting abilities are mediocre at best, however, his talents lie elsewhere. He was formally a technician who worked for some of the scientists for Academy City. Jiro is an expert at handling the various machines throughout Academy City, and he can easily manipulate them as long as he can find the control room or something that he can hardwire into.

Until about a year ago, he was a loyal technician who always enjoyed his job. He believed everything he was doing was for the benefit of the world until he secretly witnessed several of the experiments for himself. Jiro had witnessed how the scientists used a bunch of kids, known as Child Errors, as guinea pigs, and it resulted in all of them falling into comas. He would have contacted the authorities to report this, but he saw what the scientists 'cleanup' crew did, and there was nothing he could use to support his testimony.

When Jiro confronted several of the scientists that he thought would be horrified by what they had done, they apparently did not seem interested in revealing the truth. However, there was one scientist he believed that could help him. It was a female scientist with long brown hair that the children referred to as 'sensei.' She appeared the most shocked out of all the scientists when the experiment went to hell. Unfortunately, he was never able to speak with her directly, and he was not in a position to begin looking for her either. Eventually, Jiro believed she probably would try to forget this event happened as well and move on with her life.

Between what he had witnessed and believing that none of his colleagues or the people he worked for could be trusted, Jiro's once firm belief that he was helping the greater good was irreversibly shaken. Eventually, he quit his job and did everything in his ability to hide himself from his former employers. Due to his expertise, it was a simple task for him to avoid being seen by security cameras. All he needed to do was rewire them, so they would not notice him. He was afraid if they found him, they would force him to work for them again. Jiro did not wish to contribute to anymore of those scientists' crimes, but he was at a loss of what he could do to remedy his own sins.

Eventually, Jiro learned of the new urban legend known as the 'Devil of Academy City.' To be honest, he was not sure whether or not this Devil could be the salivation or the ruination of Academy City. However, he felt drawn to this rumor, and he would rather support this individual because he felt that anything would be better than working for those scientists again. Eventually, he would believe that working for the Skill-Out was the right thing to do because he saw that at least they were attempting to do something about the filth of Academy City.

Thanks to Jiro's expertise, he was able to make a number of 'repairable' devices in the area, such as certain cleaning robots and cameras, work in a way that only they could control them, and the Big Spider could use them to monitor activities of certain areas within 'The Strange.' They did not have to worry about the possibility of other people in Academy City gaining remote access to those machines. Additionally, Jiro had 'borrowed' the blueprints for certain Anti-Esper devices that were being developed, but with his expertise, he would be able to complete it more effectively than a majority of the technicians that were still loyal to the scientists. As a result, the device would come in handy for Big Spider, especially the Anti-Esper Squad, and numerous others in the near future for better and worse.

**Akiyama ****Ichirou**: He is a man in his mid-thirties that has the appearance of someone at least five years younger. He has short dark hair and blue eyes. There are a few small but noticeable scars close to the left side of his face close to his eye. In addition to that, Ichirou has an eye patch over his left eye, and he wears it due to a doctor recommendation. Ichirou received an injury that nearly blinded his left eye, but Academy City's best doctor was able to save it. He had been instructed to prevent his left eye from looking into sunlight before it is healed. However, he does not regret not being able to see outside of his left eye because he feels like it was worth it.

He is a teacher and member of the Anti-Skill who has specialized in sharp shooting. Ichirou is not a teacher of Esper studies, but a teacher of subjects you would see in regular school outside of Academy City's walls. However, he believed that teaching these subjects to Espers would be far more interesting than to regular humans. In most cases, he was not wrong because he enjoyed seeing some of his students showing off their powers on the school grounds. He was always into science fiction, and he liked the fact that Academy City was finally making some of these things that were only possible in fiction a reality.

Similar to a number of the Academy City teachers, he volunteered to be a member of the Anti-Skill to enforce the laws. The training he was given was intense, but he believed the payoff was worth it. Not only did the training put him in the shape of his life, but he was able to live in an incredible apartment free of rent, and he was more than satisfied with the compensation he received for teaching. People respected him for being a member of Anti-Skill, and he enjoyed that he was helping to keep the peace. It was pleasing to him whenever he was able to aid in the successful arrest of an offender. For some time, Ichirou believed that he was living the dream. Unfortunately, all dreams must come to an end.

It was a day like any other, and school had come to a peaceful close. A few of Ichirou's students went home taking a short cut one time, but they took a wrong turn. When the incident was reported, Ichirou was horrified when he gazed upon what remained of his student's bodies. They were burnt to a crisp. While that incident did shake Ichirou, it was not enough to force him to completely awaken from his dream. Unfortunately, similar incidents began occurring, and the Anti-Skill would always arrive too late. What frustrated Ichirou was that no one was putting this on high alert despite his and a number of his colleague's insistence. It was almost as if someone did not want this killer to be found.

About two years ago, Ichirou would eventually learn the fate of this killer. He apparently met his end, at the hands of Skill-Out, but not before being one of several Espers to go on a rampage and murder numerous innocent children. His body was found in a kitchen where he apparently burnt himself alive due to the high level of gas. In the end, while the killer met his karmic death, he was not brought to justice by the Anti-Skills but by 'vigilantes.'

While Ichirou knew that these Skill-Outs broke the law by taking it into their own hands, they were the ones that actually did something about those murderers while the official enforcement agency was too slow or incapable that it ended up costing many lives. The inefficiency of the Anti-Skill continued to frustrate him, and he was beginning to believe there was no point in it anymore. When he learned about the 'Devil of Academy City,' he believed he would be better off working for the Skill-Out. While their methods were more drastic and violent than he would have wanted, he knew that they would at least get things done.

Even though he had officially become affiliated with the Big Spider he has remained a teacher and volunteer at Anti-Skill. He was able to provide some insider information to Wataru and other members of the Big Spider. During some of the later missions, there were times when he would be the one to warn them about the approximate times Anti-Skill would arrive at a scene. Additionally, he would help find ways to provide Big Spider with adequate weapons and machinery to help Jiro with technician work.

**New Anti-Esper Squad Members**: A number of the new recruits were former students of Academy City that dropped out and joined Big Spider. They lacked combat prowess, but they were more than enthusiastic to learn. As soon as they joined, they took up the same training regiment as the other Anti-Esper Squad members. The names of the most notable new recruits were, **Fukui Katashi**, **Minami Yuuto**, **Sato Yuki**, **Takahashi Naoki**, and **Yamaguchi ****Kazuki**.

Similar to Touma before they dropped out of their respective schools in Academy City, they were labeled as Level Zeroes. However, unlike Touma, who has the Imagine Breaker, all of the members did not have any powers whatsoever. Based on their less than promising futures, it was already likely that they would eventually dropout of school and attempt to join Skill-Out in the near future. However, the rumors of the 'Devil's' existence propelled all of them to take action much sooner than they originally would have intended. Some of them would eventually be more satisfied with their decisions than others.

/

Touma's interactions with fellow members of the Big Spider were minimal at this point. In fact, only a handful of them even knew Touma's real name. Most of the members believed Touma's fake name Temna Ginjou was his true identity. Touma figured that the fewer that knew who he really was the better. He knew that eventually there would be people who would be trying to find Kamijou Touma. The last thing he needed were his fellow Big Spider members to inadvertently give clues of his location to any outsiders.

The precautions that Touma had taken would work quite well. It would be sometime before anyone would be able to come close to finding him. Even if they had an idea of his location, there was nothing that could be done about it. It would be sometime before anyone that wanted to help Touma would be able to help him. The delay of Touma being found by others would work for both the better and the worst.

Whenever Touma would walk out in public within Academy City, he would wear a disguise to slightly alter the appearance of his face. It would be the face of his identity Temna Ginjou who worked as a cook at a restaurant several miles away from where he lived in 'The Strange.' Since the restaurant was close to both 'The Strange' and some of the 'finer' parts of Academy City, it was the best place for him to learn about the most recent gossip of Academy City. He was sometimes shocked to hear what others had to say.

It was when he was on break one day that he overheard some of his coworkers talking about the emerging Urban Legend, 'the Devil of Academy City.' Touma was surprised that word spread around so quickly after his debut. However, Touma knew that it was not a matter of luck that helped spread the word. He had a feeling that it was bad luck that his actions had already propelled him to such a status within the urban legend community. Unfortunately, he was more or less correct in his theory.

As he expected, he had already fought against several Espers that wanted to be able to fight him because they wanted a challenge or test their abilities against the 'Devil.' He had managed to take them down with relative ease because their egos were greater than their actual skills. While it was unfortunate that some of those Espers stooped as low as to attack innocent civilians to draw his attention, it did not deter him from his goal. He knew that if he quit now, it would resolve nothing, and it was likely that similar Espers would continue to attack innocent civilians to draw him out regardless of whether he continued to be the 'Devil' or not.

Despite the danger, Touma continued to insist on handling his 'runs' alone. While he would receive some assistance such as others communicating with him or receiving a tip regarding an Esper abuse crime that was happening, he was on his own when it came to fighting. Touma believed it was the proper course of action because he felt that this was his mission, and he needed to handle it by himself. He knew there were others who would be willing to help him, but he did not want to put their lives in danger even though he knew they were skilled. Touma was simply that stubborn.

Although during several of Touma's recent 'runs,' he had the feeling that he was being followed. While Touma had no way of proving it, it was his gut feeling that Wataru had been following him. Touma's assumption was correct because due to the increasingly risky situations Touma has been putting himself in, Wataru had been tailing him to ensure Touma would not get himself into a situation he could not handle. It was due to Wataru's skills that he remained undetected by Touma. If it had been anyone else, such as Konori, Touma would have eventually been able to detect them.

Before Touma was about to attempt another run, he was stopped by Wataru and asked, "Going out on your own are we?" It may have been phrased like a question, but Wataru knew the answer to it.

Touma responded in a somewhat annoyed tone, "You know that is how I like to handle things."

Wataru warned Touma, "You are starting to get too reckless out there man. You can't run head long into every situation you see by yourself. It will get your killed."

Touma protested, "What do you expect me to do? Ignore people who need my help."

Wataru calmly responded, "I'm not saying that at all. However, maybe you should start bringing someone with you when you are on those 'runs.' There are more and more people out there who actually might be interested in meeting you face-to-face. You have already met with such Espers already, so do not pretend that it's not going to happen. From my experience, those are the type of people you might not want to be facing alone. Dangerous only barely defines those kinds of people, and they will do anything to achieve their goals no matter how underhanded their methods are."

"That is all the more reason why I need to take them down." Touma held out his right hand, "At least I have the Imagine Breaker to neutralize those Espers powers. I am the only one here who has this ability. If I take anyone else with me, they will be hurt and might even die. As far as I know, I am probably the only one in all of Academy City who has this ability right?"

Wataru was getting slightly irritated at Touma's stubbornness, but he calmly responded, "That is probably true. I have never seen or heard of another Esper that is capable of neutralizing another's powers before. However, it does not matter what your right hand is capable of. As with all things, your power has its limit, and I have a feeling you might come to know them at the worse possible moment."

Even though Touma knew that Wataru was being logical, Touma still could not bring himself to accept what he was getting at. "I don't care. This is something I need to do. I can't put others in danger with me."

Wataru sighed and stated, "I respect what you are trying to do, but there are smarter ways about doing this. I know there will be times when you might have to fight alone regardless of whether you choose to have someone with you. However, it doesn't always have to be that way. You don't have to do all of this on your own. We can help you."

Touma's only response to that was, "I'm grateful that you want to help me. I really am. However, this is something only I can do. Sorry."

Wataru wanted to continue, but he decided this would only go around in circles, so he decided to remain quiet. Touma walked past him and stated, "Well I'm going out. See ya." Touma then took his leave.

All Wataru could do was watch as Touma continued to walk away. A part of Wataru wanted to knock some sense into Touma right then and there, but he knew that it would accomplish nothing. He understood why Touma was unwilling to accept help at this point, but he hoped there would be a time when Touma finally would be willing to accept it. Wataru could only hope that time would come sooner rather than later.

Konori had overheard Wataru and Touma's conversation. She approached Wataru and said, "Well that could have gone better."

Wataru bitterly remarked, "It certainly could have. Although, I suppose it could have gone far worse as well."

Konori sadly asked, "Do you think a part of the reason he doesn't want us to go with him is because he doesn't really trust us?"

Wataru reassured Konori, "It's not a matter of not trusting us. It's another matter altogether that we don't have any control over."

Konori asked, "You mean about his past and how he witnessed his friend be savagely murdered in front of him?"

Wataru raised an eyebrow when he answered Konori's question with a question of his own. "So he told you what happened?"

Konori answered in a sad tone, "Yes. He told me after I gave him his birthday present."

"I see." Wataru thought to himself, _"At least he seems capable of discussing his past with others. That is definitely a step in the right direction._ He then said to Konori, "In that case you can probably understand why he wants to avoid having us involved because he doesn't want us to meet the same fates as his friends."

Konori responded in a mixture of annoyance and frustration, "I understand that he would want to keep those he cares about away from danger, but these situations are completely different. They were all kids who were not able to fight. You have trained both Kamijou-san and me how to fight. Not only do we know martial arts, but we also know how to use weapons as well. We are more than able to work together with him. The same thing will not happen to us, and we can ensure he does not die before he can achieve his goals either."

Wataru told Konori in a sad tone, "Tell that to his guilt."

Konori's annoyance and frustration subsided after hearing that. "If only I could, that would make things so much easier. So what do we do now?"

Wataru told Konori in a determined voice, "Well I'm not going to give up that easily. We have to do what we have been doing, and hopefully we can help change his mind. I'm going to go after him again to ensure he doesn't require any saving."

Konori was happy to see that Wataru had every intention of helping Touma to the best of his abilities. "Thank you Wataru."

Wataru smiled as he told Konori, "No thanks are needed. I'm doing this for myself as much as I am doing this for you or him."

/

In an alleyway, far away from either Touma or the Big Spider's location, there were a group of Espers that were attacking any and all Espers in the area. It did not matter if the people they attacked were Espers who would victimize others or if they were the victims themselves. All that mattered was whether or not they had someone to test their abilities on. They would not go as far as to kill their targets, but they would ensure they would receive painful injuries.

One of their targets lay on the ground clutching his stomach in pain. One of the Espers noticed this and walked up to the Esper and kneeled down, so he could look at his fallen target's eyes. He told his target, "So you are still conscious huh? I guess I didn't use enough power."

The Esper on the ground asked him in a pained voice, "Who are you?"

This caused his attacker to form a smile that further displayed his sadistic and vicious side and he stated, "If you are asking for my name specifically, it is Kimura Takaya. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. However, if you are curious about my little group, we are known as the Devil's representatives, and we will crush all that get in our way."

Takaya proceeded to stand up and kick his target's head to render him unconscious. No sooner had Takaya done that it caused one of his targets that were waiting for the best opportunity to attack him to jump out from her hiding place and strike. Unfortunately, Takaya was too quick and proceeded to punch her in the stomach which sent her flying into a wall and causing her to lose consciousness as well. The power that Takaya obtained increased his physical capabilities exponentially.

After Takaya saw that his subordinates had beaten their targets, Takaya thought to himself, _"It is a real shame this is where it has to end. Leaving it like this feels rather unsatisfying, but we have our orders to leave immediately after we defeated all of them and do nothing more than to them." _Takaya sighed as he continued to think, _"I suppose after receiving these new abilities, following such orders is the least we can do. It would make us appear ungrateful if we couldn't do something as simple as that."_

He ordered his men, "Hey Manabura, Ryo, Nobu, we have to get going and meet up with the others. The last thing we need is to cause our employer to have a fit." His men were disappointed but they reluctantly agreed because they knew it would serve them no purpose to make their employer angry with them.

All of these men, especially Takaya, were please to finally have Esper abilities to call their own. It still felt like a dream to them that they finally had what they always wanted, and from their perspective it was about time. Needless to say, it caused their egos to become inflated, and they were filled with overconfidence. The fact it was surprisingly easy to control these powers continue to inflate their egos exponentially.

Takaya looked at his hand and thought to himself, _"This power feels incredible. I can feel it through my veins. It is so wonderful. That crazy bitch was not kidding when she said that she could deliver this promise."_ Takaya laughed inwardly to himself as he declared, _"I have a feeling that the time for me to pay you back Devil will be very soon."_

Therestina was monitoring the display of abilities that her test subjects had demonstrated. While she was pleased by the results, she was more pleased by how easy it was to obtain so many subjects for this experiment. She kept grinning and inwardly laughing to herself about how everything had been proceeding.

She thought to herself, _"Recruiting the worthless Level Zeroes drops that the Devil defeated and those disposable Child Errors for this experiment has been a simple task. They all want the same thing, power, and they would do anything to obtain it._" Theristina then glanced at the remote in her hand as she continued to think, _"Project Zero-Beta is going to make the streets run red with blood. However, whose blood will it be? That will be an answer I look forward to finding out. The results will be something to die for."_

/

**Location: Unknown Facility Located within Academy City **

In this facility, two scientists were overlooking several other test subjects that had volunteered to take part in Project Beta-Zero. These test subjects varied from being Child Errors who were made to feel worthless due to being incapable of gaining an ability of their own to street thugs who had no abilities and turned to crime in order to make a living. The facility did not care for the test subjects' background and was more than willing to accept any and all who wished to obtain a power. As far as the test subjects were concerned, this was their long awaited opportunity to finally create some meaning for their lives.

Everyone of these test subjects that had entered this facility were Level Zeroes who supposedly would not have any hope of obtaining powers. However, after being injected with 'Beta-Zero,' they would start feeling the difference within a few hours. It would feel as if some sort of strange sensation was running throughout their body, and they could feel the power begin to emerge. When they were in the testing room, they were able to begin using powers they had only dreamt of being able to use.

The powers these test subjects were able to use included but they were not limited to teleportation, fire, water manipulation, or body transformations. Similar to any other Esper, these test subjects were only able to use one type of Esper power. While scientists hoped to eventually develop Espers with 'dual skills' someday in the near future, it did not seem likely at this point. However, these Espers did not care about those details because they were more than grateful to finally have an ability of their own. They were not too concerned about any possible advancement the scientists could make unless it could help them immediately.

Unfortunately, for these Espers they would eventually learn that greatness and power are not meant to come that easily. However, like most things in life there would be a price they would need to pay. Unfortunately, the price was much heavier than one would ever agree to. The payday would come for all of these Espers but depending on the circumstances, some Espers would be meeting that 'payday' sooner than others. When it was time for 'payday' came, none of them would be ready for what came next.

As these newly created Beta-Zeroes were testing and training to control their newfound powers, there were two scientists that were overseeing their training. One of these scientists was the infamous Kihara Gensei who was amused by what he was witnessing. The other scientist who stood by him was a relatively young man who had seen his fair share of heartbreak. He had come to Academy City in hopes of being able to handle the cause of it.

The mysterious scientist stated, "It appears that the test subjects we have tested Beta-Zero on are as proving to be as capable of we hoped."

Gensei responded, "Indeed. That seems to be the case with all of the Espers. Without fail, every single one of them has proven to be capable of wielding a power in six hours or less. It is quite an achievement." Gensei chuckled to himself as he said that.

The mysterious scientist said, "I never would have thought it would be possible to see these test subjects to be capable of such powers regardless of what we could have done. After all, the **Parameter List** already indicated that most of these Espers would be useless unless we poured an excess of our resources to help them naturally develop their abilities. However, what I am witnessing them display does present a question."

Gensei turned to his colleague and asked, "What question would that be?"

The scientist explained himself before asking the question directly. "When I scanned the test subjects after they were injected with Beta-Zero, they still appeared to be Level Zeroes as on the System Scan. It did not seem to register that these test subjects had become capable of wielding powers that are equivalent to a Level Three or Four. I don't understand how that is possible. Do you care to explain it?"

Gensei answered in an amused tone, "That is a good question, but the answer to explain that is rather simple. The system scan still recognizes the test subjects as being Level Zeroes because they received the powers artificially through Beta-Zero rather than through normal scientific means. The powers they currently wield originally belong to another Esper."

The scientist seemed to understand what Gensei was getting at. "So you are basically stating that the powers we have been giving these test subjects are not powers that they could have potentially developed on their own if we would have utilized our resources to cultivate their powers naturally?"

Gensei expanded upon his previous explanation. "That is generally the case. When they were injected with Beta-Zero, it contained a concentrated amount of DNA from certain other Espers. Those Espers we obtained the DNA from either willingly donated samples of their DNA, or they were deceased and we processed parts of their DNA regardless of whether or not they would have consented. Through our research, we were able to utilize these DNA samples in a way that it would allow another individual to wield those Espers abilities as if they were their own even if it is temporarily."

While that did answer one question, it also raised another for the scientist. "I can see that being possible, but how have most of these test subjects been so capable of controlling these abilities in record times. From my knowledge, even Espers who had such powerful abilities would have needed much more practice to properly utilize their capabilities."

Gensei stated, "That is something I cannot fully explain, but there is a saying that someone's abilities are 'in the blood.' I suppose it is possible that when they were injected with the blood that it also allowed the injected to inherit some of the original wielder's instincts or innate abilities which greatly reduced the time necessary to control their newfound abilities."

The scientist was somewhat satisfied with that answer, but there was one other thing he wished to have clarified. "I see. Well in that case what do you mean by the fact these test subjects having those abilities would be temporary. I thought this was meant to be a permanent solution."

"I would hardly expect Beta-Zero to be a 'permanent solution' in the manner you mean it especially since it is a new experiment that would take some time to truly develop to such a potential." Gensei could see what he said so far did not truly answer his colleague's question, so he clarified, "By our projections, the test subjects will be able to use their abilities for a few weeks or a few months. Although, I suppose constantly using the powers would speed up the ending process. However, I have a feeling that my granddaughter, Theristina, has already implemented a secondary plan that would hasten the ending process in case one of her test subjects attempted to turn on her."

The scientist nervously asked, "What happens to the subjects when the 'ending process' happens?"

Gensei chuckled a bit and stated, "Unfortunately, I do not have an answer to that. I do have theories of course, but nothing more concrete than that. However, if my theories are correct, I have a feeling that my granddaughter will enjoy seeing the final results more than anyone. It is her nature after all."

The scientist's eyes began to open wide in horror, "Are you saying they might die?"

Gensei was not deterred by what the other scientist was asking. "It certainly seems like a possibility. However, should that really matter to you that much? Considering whom these test subjects are, no one is going to mourn them regardless of the outcome. They will just be blips off the radar that will be worth as much as they were when they first came to Academy City, nothing."

The scientist then said in disbelief, "You really think they are worthless?! If someone has a life, they can still choose to make their lives mean something even if it is not to your standards."

Gensei calmly responded, "They will not be completely worthless per se. Their lives could be worth something to you could they not?"

The scientist asked in a questioning voice, "What do you mean by that?"

Gensei stated in his normal calm, polite voice, "When you came to Academy City, you had a specific goal that you wished to fulfill correct?" The scientist nodded and Gensei continued, "These test subjects might be capable of helping you finally reach your own goal. You knew that working for us was the best method for you to accomplish your goal which was why you were so willing to accept the offer we provided for you. With this experiment, the time you have been waiting for might be coming sooner than you expected. These test subjects may very well be what provide a painful agonizing death to the one who ruined your life."

After a few moments, the thought of finally achieving his desired objective caused the scientist personality to change completely. The look in his eyes became darker, and a smile that seemed as if it belonged to a psychopathic serial killer began to form. Anyone who was there to witness this man's transformation could feel the aura of bloodlust radiate off him. This man had gone from someone who was concerned with the lives of others to ensuring that his desire was fulfilled regardless of the cost.

This scientist bitterly stated, "Yes. Yes they can. This is what I have been waiting for, and I told myself I would make sure it would happen regardless of what needed to be done. I don't care what name or title that worthless, unlucky piece of shit goes by. I will make sure he is dead. I will not rest until I see Kamijou Touma's corpse." The scientist then pulled out a pocket knife from his pocket and clinched it tightly in his hand, "I don't care how long it takes as long as he pays for all the suffering that he caused to me. Until then, I will have no rest."

The sudden change in this man's personality was enough to even cause Kihara Gensei to temporarily lose his trademark calm appearance and appear visibly worried. However, he was used to dealing with such individuals, and he was quick to regain his composure as he attempted to quell his 'revenge driven' accomplice by calmly stating, "You need to have patience my young friend. You will have your time for revenge soon enough. Until then, I need you to make sure the experiments go as well as possible."

It appeared that Gensei's attempt worked because the scientist put the knife away and stated in an obedient voice, "Yes sir. I will ensure everything is in order. You can count on me."

Gensei smiled as he responded, "I am sure that I will."

The mysterious scientist then took his leave to continue with the Beta-Zero experiments. Gensei looked upon his 'revenge driven' accomplice as he walked away and thought, _"He truly is a man capable of such contributions, but his instability and wish for bloodlust is rather difficult to deal with. I suppose it is fortunate that after some time has passed he would serve his purpose. It makes me wonder what the General Director will do with him."_

/

Whenever Touma would go on his runs, he would take different approaches depending on the circumstances and the locations. Sometimes he would walk in regular civilian clothing can carry a backpack like most teenagers his age. However, instead of having homework and books in his backpack, he would be carrying his 'Devil' gear. On other occasions, he would patrol different alleyways, and he would already have his 'Devil' gear equipped because they would be areas where there were 'no good places' for him to change. Not to mention that having the appearance of a student in some of those areas would probably do him more harm than good.

In this case, Touma was patrolling an area with his 'Devil' gear already equipped. By utilizing what he had learned during his time in Skill-Out, he was generally good at moving from place to place. You have needed a high vantage point and/or a really good hiding place if you wanted to catch Touma conducting his 'Devil' runs. Touma did the best he could to be careful, but he knew that nothing he could do that would ensure absolute stealth.

On a majority of his runs, Touma had managed to stop a number of crimes either by managing to either chance upon a crime in progress or receiving Intel from one of his fellow Skill-Out members about the whereabouts about certain criminals or crimes in progress. However, there were times when he would finish his runs, and he would not fight anyone. Sometimes it was simply a matter of not receiving any word of ongoing criminal activities, besides his vigilantism, or being in an area that no other crime was taking place.

Touma was convinced that regardless of the results he would receive from these runs, it was some manifestation of his bad luck. It did not matter whether it would be bad luck for him not coming across any criminal activity for him to stop, bad luck for him managing to take down a criminal that would increase his infamy, or transferring his bad luck for his victims. Regardless of what would happen, he felt that all roads were the result of his perpetual misfortune, but he was grateful that he could transfer his misfortune to those who were far more deserving.

It was a theory of Touma's that his Imagine Breaker not only negated his own luck but it was a magnet of misfortune. However, similar to most magnets, he believed that his Imagine Breaker was drawn to others, namely criminals that he could help bring to justice. It became his belief that his Imagine Breaker would help 'attract' him to those people and situations, so he could deliver misfortune upon those individuals. Regardless of whether that was really true or not, it did make him feel better to think that way.

/

**Location: Academy City – Alleyways outside of District Ten**

As Touma was conducting one of his 'runs,' he heard the screams of a young woman. He thought to himself, _"It looks like it's time to deliver some misfortune to others now."_

When Touma found the source of the screaming, he saw that three gang members were attempting to rob a young woman and possible do something much worse. Since the men were not facing Touma's direction, he instinctively believed that he could take down at least one of them in a surprise attack, so he immediately sprung into action. Due to Touma's quick pace and the men's lack of observation abilities, none of them noticed Touma's approach.

Before they knew what hit them, Touma managed to smash the side of one of their heads with a high kick. That gang member was knocked unconscious instantly. The other two immediately turned around, and attempted to attack Touma, but he was able to dodge. Touma let them keep attacking him as he backed away because he would rather begin fighting those two after they were at least ten feet away from the woman they were harassing.

At this point in the fight, Touma could tell that neither of his opponents had Esper abilities because he blocked a few of their attacks with his right hand. If they had abilities, generally his right hand would have had some kind of reaction although it is possible that their powers could be stored internally. Either way, it did not appear that his opponents were going to fight him by using powers, and he only had to fight off their hand-to-hand combat, which was surprisingly easy. In fact, Touma was beginning to think it seemed too easy.

After he felt the distance between them and the woman was substantial, he began his counterattack on the assaults. Touma managed to block the attack of one of the attackers, and Touma hit his attacker right in the throat. It completely stunned Touma's opponent long enough for Touma to punch him in the gut followed with an upper cut to his face. That man fell down like a sack of potatoes in less than ten seconds.

Touma's other opponent did not seem deterred by the fact his ally was taken down. The man made several fast punches towards Touma's face and abdomen. However, the way he was flailing his fists lacked any kind of technique, and they were easy for Touma to dodge and block. Touma then ducked after another attack and kicked his opponent's feet to knock him to the ground. His opponent attempted to get up as quickly as he could, but before he was able to do so, Touma quickly stood up and kicked his opponent's head. Afterwards, the man was on the ground out like a light. It only took Touma less than thirty seconds to defeat this opponent.

Before Touma did his usual, coupé grace, he knew that something did not seem right about this. Touma thought to himself, _"That seemed too easy. I understand that taking down the first guy was simple because I was able to sneak up behind him and take him down before he could react. However, the other two went down after only a few hits, and they weren't able to put up much of a fight. Most of the guys I have fought before at least had some kind of street fighting skills, but their abilities were practically nonexistent. It is almost as if I am supposed to believe 'luck' was on my side. I know that Wataru's training have made me strong, but something about this is giving me a bad feeling."_

Touma's feelings were not unfounded. A few seconds later, the sound of a door opening caught his attention. The person who came out of it was a large man who seemed only slightly smaller than Komaba. He was accompanied by four other individuals who were a little taller than Touma and probably between sixteen and eighteen years old. While Touma could not be sure, he thought that he saw something big was behind the large man's back. He had a feeling that he would not like what he saw if the man pulled it out.

After the 'friends' of those gang members appeared, Touma took a quick glance at the woman he had just saved. She appeared terrified of what was happening. Touma thought to himself in an inner voice mixed with determination and disgust, _"So the guys who were attacking this girl were attempting to lure me like Rin did with those civilians, but unlike her they brought backup. I guess I shouldn't be surprised someone would attempt something like that. I bet they probably heard rumors of some of the 'plans' that have been put into motion to get my attention before and used them as inspiration for their own crazy ideas. Regardless, I need to make sure I take these guys down."_

The large man was the first to respond. He had a deep voice, and he mockingly congratulated Touma, "I see you were able to take down our newbie Hunters. Although, I consider it a good thing you weren't pathetic enough to lose to them otherwise eliminating you would be far less satisfying."

Touma criticized the man, "So you used your own men as sacrificial pawn huh? I bet you get a large turnover rate thanks to methods like that."

The large man chuckled at Touma's comment, "Your right that the turnover rate is rather substantial, but such people are easily replaceable, and they would rather die working for me than die through one of the alternative methods." Touma did not like the sound of that. "Besides, I had a feeling that they probably wouldn't stand a chance against you, but they would be good enough to draw you out into the open, and I did not believe you would kill them anyway." The large man's voice was sounding more and more psychopathic as he spoke. "After all, the rumors paint you as either an abomination or a savior. Either way, it involves you 'saving the innocents,' 'punishing the wrongdoers,' and 'never getting your hands dirty.' I am fairly certain there will be no turnover from this job."

Touma did not respond to what the large man had said to him. However, the large man seemed to remember something as he said, "I just realized that I have been rather rude to you. Here I come telling you all this about me ending your life, and I have yet to introduce myself. Allow me to do so now." The large man introduced himself in a deep, commanding voice, "My name is Ito Kouhei. It is a pleasure to finally meet you Devil of Academy City."

Touma gave a deadpan response, "I'm sure the pleasure is all yours." The pleasure truly was all Kouhei's. Whenever, he encountered anyone at all, the pleasure of making their acquaintance would always be exclusive to him.

Kouhei was amused by Touma's response, but he pretended to sound hurt by reply, "Don't be like that Devil. After all, I gave you a courtesy of telling you my name before we fight Devil which I hope you appreciate." Touma remained silent as Kouhei continued to state, "I learned that it is considered polite to let your opponents know the name of the person who is about to kill them, so they will know who to despise in the afterlife assuming there is one."

Touma then replied, "I take it that you give other opponents this courtesy as well."

Kouhei responded in a polite tone, "Of course I do. Assuming there is an afterlife, I am sure there are probably at least twenty individuals who are cursing the day I was even born."

Touma stated in a repulsed tone, "I bet there are a lot of living people who curse your existence even now."

Kouhei casually responded, "There probably would be, but not enough people I meet in the real world besides my fellow 'Hunters' and my contractors live beyond our first meeting, so I really would not know. Perhaps in the future I should merely go to maiming my prey and see how he or she will react during our next meeting before I decide to finish the job. That would be quite an interesting exchange to witness I'm sure."

Touma responded, "Well we aren't going to get anywhere if you just keep talking about it all day. Maybe we should get started."

Kouhei was happy to agree as he stated, "I couldn't agree more. Let's get this party started." He then put his right hand to his back and pulled out a rather large chainsaw that was covered with multiple blood stains.

Even with Touma's mask on, Kouhei could tell that Touma was stunned to see so many blood stains. Kouhei stated, "I know that most people would tell me that I should clean this thing. In most cases, I would agree, but I think it would be most disrespectful to the people these bloodstains represent." As Kouhei continued speaking, his face was in pure bliss as he reminisced about the 'good old times,' "You see I still remember each and every victim I have killed with this baby and what their faces looked like as I detached their heads from their bodies. They are such pure, warm memories. I think I would rather retire my baby and put it on display after I remove your head and buy a new one to replace it afterwards. After all, I would rather not wash away some of the happiest memories of my life."

Touma thought to himself in horror, _"This animal is even worse than __Ketsueki__." _He then said in a voiced filled with disgust as memories of Ketsueki streamed across his mind. "You are a complete psychopath."

Kouhei was happy to accept that as a complement, "You're damn right I am, but they know how to control me and keep me entertained. That is why I am so good at my job." Kouhei was becoming more deranged by the second, "I have yet to fail killing a single target, and I don't intend to start now. I look forward to putting your head on a pike like they used to do during the age of the Samurai. I'll be sure to make sure the whole city will be able to remember you and us as well."

Touma could not help but wonder who exactly were 'they,' but he knew that was not the time to be worrying about that. He could see that Kouhei was ready to begin, and he knew that he had to be prepared. While this would be a first, Touma found himself reaching towards the area that he would keep his gun. He had a feeling that he would need his gun for more than a coup de grace. It might have to be his opening move.

When Touma prepared to face his new opponents, his back was turned to the woman that he had been protecting. He told her in a protective voice, "Stay behind me. I'll take care of them."

Unfortunately for him, the woman he thought he was protecting was not nearly as defenseless as she portrayed herself to be. After his back was turned and he could no longer see her face, the girl's true colors began to make themselves known as she gave a sadistic grin and said, "That's good to hear." She pulled out a needle that had strange fluids, and she declared, "This makes things much easier."

As soon as Touma heard her say that, Touma said, "What?"

Before Touma had a chance to turn around to see what she was doing, the woman was right behind him, and she stabbed him in the neck with the needle. She immediately pressed the back of the needle, and all of the fluid went directly into Touma's body rendering him helpless. Touma fell to the ground as he felt the fluid flow throughout his veins. His eyes began to cloud as he looked into the eyes of the woman he thought he was protecting.

After Touma was unconscious, Kouhei shouted at the woman, "Why would you do that Yuzuki?! I wanted to kill him myself! You were only supposed to be the backup plan!"

The girl Kouhei referred to as Yuzuki replied in a high pitched voice, "I decided it would be for the best to utilize the backup plan at this point. I saw what he was capable of after the way he beat those three new members. Even though you are much stronger than any of them, I doubt that you would have been able to win against him either."

Kouhei angrily responded, "Oh shut up! I'm more concerned with whether or not that killed him. If you did, that would be a real shame."

Yuzuki responded, "No he's not dead. You should already know that the serum I shoved into his neck would probably only render him unconscious for about an hour or so. Even then, he would probably feel woozy for a while. Although, that doesn't really matter now does it."

"No it will not." While Kouhei was pleased to know Touma was not dead yet, it was not enough to make his anger completely subside. "However, I still find that to be a shame by itself. I was hoping he would be conscious for this. It really wouldn't do any good if I can't see the fear in his eyes as I do this. I won't get the satisfaction."

Yuzuki playfully responded, "What you're about to do is going to be pretty loud and painful. I wouldn't be surprised if he wakes up during the process."

Kouhei was still annoyed at the prospect. "It still won't be the same. However, I guess it would be best if we do this now. It is something that needs to be done now anyway." He motioned to two of his men to position Touma's body, so he could begin the execution.

One of the subordinates asked, "So after we cut his head off, where do you think we should display it, and what should we do with the rest of his body?"

The other subordinate that was holding Touma's body answered, "Well the guard dogs are pretty hungry and they seem willing to eat anything these days."

Kouhei replied, "That's a good idea. Then we will probably save a weeks' worth of dog food." Kouhei then pulled the string that activated the chainsaw. The sound of the machine resounded in the air as he held it up to begin the decapitation. He proudly said, "Your reign is now over Devil! It's time for you to go to hell!"

As Kouhei was about to decapitate Touma, he was suddenly kicked in the face and he sent flying several feet. Due to being kicked and his less than graceful way of holding the chainsaw, he lost his grip of the machine. Kouhei's own chainsaw ended up cutting deeply into his left leg, and he fainted due to the pain and blood loss. Before anyone could realize what was happening, the man who kicked Kouhei then grabbed the heads of the subordinates holding Touma's body and slammed them to the ground. They were not killed, but they were down for the count.

There were only two subordinates and Yuzuki left. She looked in horror at this new figure that appeared before them. He wore a mask similar to what Touma wore, but it was distinctively different in design.

The man was clearly older than Touma and he said to them, "I see that you have been keeping my subordinate entertained. Now I suppose it is my turn to receive entertainment."

Yuzuki nervously asked as she backed away a few steps, "How could you have sneaked up on us? Why didn't the lookout report anything?"

The man casually responded, "Well a lookout is rather incapable of doing his job if he is unconscious."

Yuzuki's eyes were becoming more terrified by the second. "You beat Shinichi? How did you even find him?"

The masked man was happy to explain, "It was rather easy. When you are keeping a distance tailing someone else, it leaves you open to notice when others take an interest in your target. Since I was not the one your lookout was keeping an eye out for, taking care of him was a simple task."

/

A few minutes prior to Touma hearing the screams, the Hunters' lookout spotted Touma and singled his fellow members to spring their trap. While Touma did not notice the lookout, Wataru was able to spot him and had a feeling that Touma was heading straight for disaster. He would have wanted to help Touma right away, but he knew his help would be useless unless he took out the lookout first.

Wataru was able to keep out of Shinichi's line of sight as he managed to make his way up the building. Shinichi was not aware of Wataru's presence until he was on the rooftop as well. As soon as he saw Wataru, he charged Wataru and attempted to attack him with all his might. The end result of their confrontation was Shinichi ending up with a broken left arm and broken legs. As far as Wataru was concerned, this man had crossed the line taking part in trap to possibly kill one of his subordinates.

After Wataru had defeated Shinichi, he was able to witness Touma's confrontation with Kouhei and being stabbed in the neck by Yuzuki. Needless to say, he knew that he needed to spring into action at the opportune time. He did not want to put Touma's life in danger, but he knew that there would be a moment when he could save Touma and take down several of those 'Hunters' at once. When Wataru saw his opportunity, he capitalized on it, and he had taken their numbers on the ground down by half without breaking a sweat.

/

After Wataru was finished giving his 'quick' explanation, he could see the horror in their faces. Wataru told them, "As I said, it was a simple task, and I'm sure this will be a rather simple task too." Wataru cracked his knuckles as the remaining 'hunters' nervously looked upon their new opponent. Killing intent was radiating off him. While he had no intention of killing them, he had every intention to ensure each and every one of them would experience and exorbitant amount of pain.

Seeing that the 'Hunters' were too scared to say anything Wataru decided to add one last point, "Needless to say, I do not appreciate it when others attempt to harm my subordinates let alone try to murder them. The rest of you are going to be learning the hard way what happens to those I catch trying to commit such acts."

The two remaining male 'Hunters' tried to put on a false bravado to indicate they were not frightened and attempted to fight Wataru similar to how the other two rushed Touma. Their skills were greater than the ones that Touma had defeated, but Wataru was able to handle them with great ease. He used moves that were similar to Touma's but they were much more refined and had more style.

Wataru jumped up and kicked one of the male 'Hunters' in the gut. Then he brought his foot up again, and this time hit him in the back to send his foe to the ground face first. Wataru then caught his other attacker's fist in his hand and proceeded to break his foes right hand. Wataru then hit the back of his foe's neck to knock him unconscious as well.

As Yuzuki witnessed Wataru take down the other Hunters without wasting a single move, she fearfully thought to herself, _"Is this man more dangerous than the Devil? Maybe he is the one that we should be hunting. We will need much more if we are to have any hope of eliminating him."_ Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw Wataru beginning to approach her. She tried backing away, but she ended up tripping and falling onto her back. As Wataru kept walking towards her, she kept trying to back away to no avail.

Wataru angrily told her, "Normally, I don't like to hit girls, but you will be an exception. After all, I don't consider crazy bitches like you to really be girls anyway."

Yuzuki desperately told Wataru in a cowardly tone, "You know you are just going to incur the wrath of the Hunters now. Do you really think that this is all of us? There are plenty more of us, and we will make sure you pay for this someday."

Wataru was not frightened in the least as he raised his foot, he told her, "So?" Before she could say anything else, he planted his foot directly on her face which broke her nose and knocked her unconscious. Even though she could not hear him anymore he said, "I will take any of you down myself if I have to. As long as it means I can protect my subordinates, I will do what it takes."

Seeing that his work was done, he turned to see that Touma was still unconscious. He rushed over to Touma and checked his pulse. To his relief, it was still beating strongly. Wataru let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness."

/

**Location: The Strange – Big Spider Headquarters – Martial Arts Training Room**

While Wataru was dispatching the 'Hunters' in order to save Touma's life, Konori was conducting several exercises that Wataru had instructed her to take in order to perfect her martial arts talents. He had complemented her abilities numerous times, and he was glad to see how much promise she had. It made him proud to have someone like her as his student and loyal subordinate. Hearing him say that to her caused her to blush, but she was good and preventing him from noticing that.

When Konori first met Wataru, she had strong feelings of admiration for him. He was one of the first people she met in Academy City that did not dismiss her as being useless or untalented. Instead, he saw that she had the potential to become stronger and allowed her to learn from him. After spending so much time with Wataru and training under him, her feelings of admiration had started developing into something much greater. They were feelings that she had very little experience in, but she did know she had them.

To say that Konori felt grateful to Wataru for constantly testing her and giving her exercises that would allow her to become stronger would be an understatement. However, there was something about these exercises that did give her some slight insecurities. Due to training with Wataru, she sometimes did wonder if he thought of her as being 'one of the guys.' However, unlike some girls, she would be a little more tolerant if Wataru were to think along those lines. After all, there were not too many female members in 'Skill Out.' If Konori were to guess she would estimate that less than twenty percent of the overall membership were female, so she could understand why Wataru would have a mindset like that.

This caused Konori to sadly think to herself, _"I wonder if he would really see me as a woman if I were to ask him any questions along those lines?"_

While Konori's fears were somewhat sound, they would eventually be put to rest. Thanks to her constantly drinking mushino milk at Wataru's recommendation, he would notice her as a woman for more than one reason. She would not be ignorant of the miracle that milk seemed to be having on her. In fact, she already was beginning to notice a noticeable difference after drinking that milk for a few months, and she would be happy to recommend it to other girls if they were to ask any questions.

While she was practicing her exercises, one of her fellow Big Spider members, Tsukuda Kyuzo, entered the room. Similar to Konori, he had strong fighting abilities, but he did not learn them from Wataru. He had known them for a long time beforehand. However, he would fight Wataru in a 'duel' from time to time. Wataru would usually be the victor, but Kyuzo did have a fair share of victories underneath his belt, and they saw each other as worthy opponents.

Konori noticed Kyuzo's arrival, and she stopped after she was finished with the exercising she was performing and greeted him, "Good afternoon Tsukunda-san."

While Kyuzo was not to type to engage in lengthy conversations with others, he did have the manners to return a greeting, "Good afternoon."

Having a conversation with Kyuzo was difficult. It was probably more so than trying to have one with Touma, so she tried to think of something. She asked in the most polite tone possible, "What brings you here Tsukunda-san?"

Kyuzo responded in a stern voice, "I have already told you that you do not need to be formal with me. You may refer to me as Kyuzo."

While it was true that he had said that to her before, she did not feel too comfortable abiding by it. Such a suggestion did sort of class with her personality. The only exception to that was after Wataru asked her to refer to him by his name, and she had a much easier time following through with it.

Konori asked in a somewhat nervous voice, "Are you sure about that? It would seem a little strange for me to refer to you as Kyuzo-san."

Kyuzo did not seem bothered by what Konori was saying and responded, "Well I would find it more appropriate for someone like myself to be referred to in such a manner."

Konori had a feeling there was much more to it than that. Wataru had not told her any details, but he told her that it if Kyuzo wanted her to refer to him in a certain way, it would be best to do so. She responded, "I see. Well in that case what brings you here Kyuzo-san? Did you want to speak with Wataru or something?"

Kyuzo answered, "Yes I did, but since you appear to be training by yourself again, I take it that Wataru is keeping an eye on the 'Devil.'"

Konori was a bit surprised to hear Kyuzo say that. "How did you know that?"

Kyuzo responded in a matter of fact tone, "His actions were obvious to me. It's very much in his character to ensure his subordinates are in the best of health."

Konori did not have any problem agreeing to that. "I guess that's true, but that's what makes him a great leader right? He doesn't just give up on his subordinates nor would he leave them in danger if he can do anything about it."

Kyuzo stated in a firm voice, "All true, but that can be both a good and a bad thing.

Konori was somewhat confused by Kyuzo's statement. "What do you mean?"

Kyuzo explained himself, "Having a good heart can win over many potential followers, but it can also leave your enemies many openings. That one of his enemies never catches wind of those potential openings."

Konori could see where Kyuzo coming from and instinctively declared to him, "Well I'm not going to just let something like that happen."

Kyuzo gave one of his extremely rare smiles as he stated, "I doubt that you would. Be sure to hold yourself to that."

With that, Kyuzo left Konori alone in the training room. Konori realized that she may have revealed a little too much information than she intended. However, she had a feeling that she did not have to worry about Kyuzo telling anyone. After all, it was not in his character to spread gossip about other members. In fact, it was rare for her to see him interact with anyone who was not her or Wataru. She figured it had to be someone that she would blurt this information to it would be either Kyuzo or Touma since she figured they would keep such information to themselves.

/

**Location: Dark Abyss – Specifics Unknown**

As Touma opened his eyes, his body felt a strange sensation. It felt as if he was floating in midair. When he finally did manage to open his eyes, he could see for himself that he truly was floating in midair. His feet were not touching any solid surface and it felt as if something was levitating him. This was a strange sensation that he did not particularly enjoy. He preferred to have his feet on the ground.

Touma said out loud to himself, "What is going on?"

After he said that, he tried looking around to see what his surroundings could tell him, but it would do him little good. All that he saw was nothingness in front of him. Or a more accurate way to describe what was in front of him was perpetual darkness. It did not matter which way he looked. All he could see was darkness and more darkness as he continued to look around. It felt as if it was going to swallow him if he stayed there any longer.

Touma then said, "What the hell is this? Where am I?"

Suddenly a demonic voice, answered him, "You are with **me** now **hero**!" The voice that Touma heard was deep and definitely male. It was a voice you would expect one of the most sinister characters in a series to possess.

Touma looked around desperately to find the source of the voice, "Who are you? Where are you?" He was hoping if he looked around in random directions the owner of the voice would appear, but it was all for naught because nothing would appear.

The demonic voice stated, "There are many things you can call me Imagine Breaker. I suppose one thing you can call me is '**you**,' and I can be anywhere and everywhere in this dimension." The voice did not appear to have a true source because Touma could hear it coming from all directions. Whoever this voice belonged to, it felt omnipresent.

Despite the fear that Touma was feeling in the pit of his stomach, he knew that he was not going to get anywhere like this, so he stated in a demanding voice, "Well that's not really an answer, and I am sick of not getting any, so tell what I really want to know."

The demonic voice answered, "You're a cocky son of a bitch aren't you." Based on his tone, he almost seemed impressed by Touma's boldness, but it was clearly not enough to get what he wanted. "Well those answers are the best you are going to get from me for now. You're not ready to hear the whole truth yet. Although, I suppose I should tell you that you will be reawakening soon 'Devil of Academy City' in both meanings."

That answer only made Touma feel more confused, "Reawakening soon? What are you talking about?"

The voice stated, "You are not going to be killed today thanks to your friend." That caused Touma to remember that he was knocked unconscious by some girl when his back was turned. Before Touma could respond, the voice continued speaking. As the demonic voice continued to speak, it sounded far more mocking. "You call yourself the 'Devil of Academy City' and your actions cause many people to either fear or worship you. However, the truth of matter is that you're pathetic! All you are is just some worthless kid who can't get over his baggage."

Touma angrily shouted, "Don't you dare refer to my friends as baggage you bastard!"

The demonic voice was more amused by this display. "Now that is more like it. It is moments like this that make you 'tolerable.' However, if you want people to truly know who the 'devil' is, I suppose that means I will have to make my debut someday soon." While the demonic voice's words sounded amused at first they slowly became filled with venom with each passing word. "That's why it was almost a shame that those 'Hunters' were stopped by your friend. While I wish to return, I can see that the 'preferable' opportunity has yet to present itself. Besides it would be for the best if you were to 'technically' be alive for my return as well. However, I have had enough being trapped in this body after over thirteen years, and it is becoming harder for me to tolerate."

Touma's anger was replaced by more confusion at the voice's last statements. He asked, "You're trapped within me?"

The voice answered in a strong tone of condescension, "Don't act so surprised. I have spoken to you before in your dreams. However, you seem to be better at recollecting some of our encounters more than others. It amazes me that someone like you would be even capable of remembering them at all."

Touma was able to recollect a few other times that the voice had spoken to him. He then said, "Then show yourself to me then. I'm getting tired of not seeing whose talking to me."

The voice responded with great hatred, "I wish I could. If I could then I would be more than happy to rip you to shreds and dispose of you."

Touma questioned the voice, "If you hate me so much that why are you even inside me in the first place?"

The voice bitterly stated, "You were merely necessary at the time, and I was necessary for you as well. It pains me to say this, but you might still be necessary for me for a little longer anyway. Certain things happened that have significantly delayed the possibility of my return. You are partly to blame for them as well. You may have been my salvation, but you have become my prison too."

Touma was becoming frightened at the possible implications of what this voice was saying, "What are you talking about?"

"I suppose that might be difficult for someone such as you to comprehend. Then I will make it clear then. You owe everything to me, and I mean **everything**, so you should shut up and be grateful that you even made it to your teenage years. However, that will not matter before long. Very soon, you will be swallowed into the abyss, and I will finally obtain what I deserve, and I can throw you aside."

Touma remained silent. He kept the increasing fear he was feeling to himself. He did not want to give the voice the satisfaction of knowing this.

The voice stated in an ominous voice, "I do not know when it will happen, but it will happen. I have **foreseen** it, and I am sure you have as well without even knowing it." The voice could see that Touma was not going to be responding, and the voice finished with, "I look forward to our next meeting. I am certain it will not be nearly as pleasant as this one."

Afterwards, Touma could feel the presence of this voice dissipate. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He felt that he could finally breathe easier. Touma let out a breath that he did not know he was holding. Finally, everything around him faded to black.

/

**Location: Academy City – Alleyways outside of District Ten**

As soon as his nightmare faded to black, Touma finally regained consciousness in the alleyway. Touma could not remember a single thing of what he had seen in his 'dream,' but he could feel that it was a less than pleasant experience. He could remember that he had similar experiences during his dreams before. There were times in the past when he could remember every graphic detail they displayed for him, and there were other times it felt like his memories were completely wiped away like a blank slate. Either way, it left him feeling shaken, depressed, and empty.

As he was regaining consciousness, he tried recollecting what happened. After a few moments, he remembered he had helped a young woman who was being robbed, but then he was stabbed in his neck and lost consciousness. After his vision was no longer blurred, he saw that Wataru was sitting next to him. When Wataru saw that Touma was coming to, he had a look of relief on his face.

Wataru said to Touma in a playful fashion, "So the hero's finally come to." Touma could not tell if Wataru was being sarcastic or serious. Wataru then stated, "It's good to see your still breathing." That part Touma could tell was not sarcastic.

Touma rubbed the back of his head. He started to get up and he saw all the gang members including that woman on the ground beaten. Touma asked, "What happened?"

Wataru's expression became more serious as he explained, "You fell into a trap. These guys used a fake assault to ambush you. While your guard was down, that woman rendered you unconscious."

It was not hard for Touma to believe. He responded, "I see. Well I guess it was only a matter of time before someone attempted something like this." While this may not have been the best question, Touma asked, ""I take it that you have been following me all this time? I always had a feeling for the past few days that someone was following me, but I couldn't be sure."

Wataru knew it would be stupid to try denying it. "You hit the nail on the head. Konori and I have been worried about you."

Touma asked in a demanding voice, "So you followed me despite my wishes?"

Wataru responded in a dejected voice, "Don't be like that. I know I ignored your . . ."

Touma interjected, "Thank you."

Wataru was continuing what he was saying, ". . . wishes but . . . What?" Wataru was stunned by what he thought he heard.

Touma repeated himself, "Thank you for following me. I would not be standing here if it wasn't for you."

Wataru was momentarily stunned by what he had heard Touma say. After a few moments, he finally responded, "It's no problem, but I think we should continue this conversation elsewhere. It was a good thing you woke up when you did because I was starting to think I was going to need to carry you. I think someone might have heard our little scuffle. The Anti-Skill will be here soon." The sounds of the Anti-Skill vehicles were approaching fast and Wataru took that as the signal to get out of here.

Touma immediately agreed, "Right."

Wataru asked Touma with a concerned voice, "Can you walk?"

Touma responded as he got up, "Yeah. I'm okay." He was not in his best form after being drugged, but the effects had worn off enough to allow him to move.

By the time the Anti-Skill arrived Touma and Wataru were long gone and the only people left in the alleyway were just a bunch of beat up gangsters that called themselves the 'Hunters.' What Yuzuki may have been said in cowardice, but it was the truth. There were others among the ranks of the 'Hunters,' and they would not take this defeat lightly.

Yomikawa looked at the scene and said, "I can only imagine what happened here." Unfortunately, for Yomikawa this would be another incident that would not present her with any answers she would desire.

/

After Touma and Wataru managed to escape, they decided to take a break in an alleyway that had a vending machine nearby. Wataru jokingly said, "I'll get the drinks Touma. I wouldn't want your bad luck depriving me of my beverage." Wataru was able to successfully purchase two drinks and he tossed one to Touma.

After they had one big gulp of their drinks, Touma decided to continue where they left off. "Thank you for looking out for me."

Wataru casually said, "I already told you that it's not a problem. We're friends after all."

Touma shamefully stated, "Yeah, but I haven't been a good friend to you have I?"

Wataru was only able to say, "Touma," without really having anything else to say besides that.

Touma continued to state in a voice filled with shame, "It's true. You, Komaba, and Konori-chan have treated me like a friend this entire time. You have trained me, given me a place to stay, and you have always been nice to me despite my distance. What have I done for you?"

Wataru answered, "You haven't been ungrateful. You may be stubborn, but you don't complain. Not to mention that you have pulled your own weight and you have cooked us a number of great meals over the years."

While Touma did know that much was true, it was not enough to ease the shame. "That is not enough. There is plenty more that I should do. You have been telling me that I should start working with my fellow Big Spider members, and I have ignored you every time. Look at what ignoring you almost cost me."

Wataru was glad that Touma was coming to a realization, but he decided it would be best to test it to ensure this experience would stick. Wataru said, "From what I can see, this situation was a fluke. You have generally been fine on your own."

Touma responded, "Yes it was a fluke. However, it was a fluke you tried to warn me about, but I was too stubborn to even consider it."

Wataru asked in a firm voice, "So are you going to start doing something about it to try and prevent it from happening in the future?"

Touma responded, "I have to think this over. I need to consider a number of things. As you said, I shouldn't try rushing into anything anymore."

Wataru was pleased to see that he was finally going to see more of a positive change in Touma now. He responded with a smile, "That's a step in the right direction."

Touma responded with a slight smile of his own. It was rare to see Touma smile, and Wataru was happy to see it happen. Afterwards, they headed back to their home in The Strange. Despite the dangerous events that had just transpired, they both felt this could help lead to some changes for the better.

/

**Location: Student Dorms – Tsuchimikado's Room**

Tsuchimikado was in his dorm room preparing for his own day in school. Despite the fact, he was a 'master spy' who was affiliated with multiple clients and various organizations; he was still able to maintain the public image as a student. Unfortunately for Tsuchimikado, his consistently busy schedule has been one of the reasons he was far from being one of the 'best students.' There had been more than one occasion when his spy duties had forced him to cut school. His sudden absences had frustrated a number of his teachers to no end.

Due to his absences, Tsuchimikado has consistently neglected his Esper development and studies along with his fellow students. Although, Tsuchimikado has been able to proficiently train his martial arts capabilities. He generally considered his fighting skills to be a higher priority due to them being more 'practical.' However, despite Tsuchimikado's neglectfulness, he has been able to develop an Esper ability known as, "Auto-Rebirth." This ability made him capable of healing himself if he was gravely injured. While it is a useful ability, due to its less than proficient power, Tsuchimikado has been labeled as a 'Level Zero.'

While Tsuchimikado's Esper ability could prove to be useful in his line of work, it would take considerable effort, time, and resources to improve upon it. Unfortunately, Tsuchimikado knew better than anyone hardly anyone would be interested in providing him with assistance in that area. In his current state, his power would probably only work a set number of items, and he would rather save those times for when he really needed it. As a result, Tsuchimikado has continuously improved his fighting capabilities, so his 'Auto Rebirth' would not need to activate unless it was truly necessary.

Between Tsuchimikado's numerous absences and his lack of apparent 'Esper talent,' he has been required to take remedial classes during the various school breaks. This has resulted in a number of educators and fellow students labeling Tsuchimikado as being nothing more than a delinquent. Tsuchimikado's general appearance did not help matters either. His 'delinquent appearance' included but was not limited to his blond hair, the gold chains he always wore around his neck, and the fact he wore Hawaiian styled clothing regardless of what season it was.

However, Tsuchimikado did not mind his reputation as a 'delinquent.' In fact, he was more than welcoming of it because it would allow him to hide in plain sight. After all, who would possibly guess that such as 'troublesome student' could be a master spy. Hardly anyone has been able to guess his true nature. Not even Tsuchimikado's own family, including his precious step sister, is aware of the truth.

While he was preparing, his phone begins ringing. He can tell by the 'Caller ID' or rather the lack of 'Caller ID' who this person was. Tsuchimikado was hoping that he could at least have a week off without receiving calls like this, but he knew that given his 'profession' that was not likely to happen anytime soon. After all, he had been accepting numerous new clients lately. It was hardly surprising that it would attract the attention of his primary employer.

As soon as Tsuchimikado answered, a voice began talking before he could even say hello. "It has come to my attention that you have been accepting numerous clients recently."

Tsuchimikado did not need to ask who this individual was. Instead, he simply asked a different question in a serious tone, "Is that a problem Aliester? As I recall, you gave me the freedom to accept new clients as long as I did not become a hindrance to you and continued to provide you with your desired information."

Aliester answered Tsuchimikado's question, "Indeed you have not violated the terms of our agreement. However, I am interested in your willingness to accept such a variety of new clients."

Tsuchimikado decided to explain things in his own way, which would not usually be recommended. "Well you know that I can't possibly survive with only the 'allowances' I receive from Academy City, and it is a fresh change of pace from the work you usually have me do. The work I have been accepting is much less life threatening by comparison."

Aliester almost seemed amused by Tsuchimikado's explanation as he said, "In that case, I wish to speak to you about one of your recent assignments on a more specific basis."

Due to dealing with Aliester on a constant basis, it was easy for Tsuchimikado to lose patience with Aliester even though he would attempt to keep it to himself, but he really wanted Aliester to get to the point this time as he asked, "Which one would that be?"

Aliester specified, "I wish to speak about the individual that you have been aiding to learn the truth of the 'rumored' Beta-Zero."

Tsuchimikado replied in a deadpan manner, "I think you of all people know that project is anything but a rumor Aliester."

Aliester directly responded, "You would be correct in assuming it is not. In fact, you would also be correct in assuming that I know everything you would need to know."

While Tsuchimikado was not surprised that Aliester had full knowledge of Beta-Zero, he was almost surprised to hear Aliester be straight forward. However, he figured that Aliester will act in a certain way if it is necessary to him. Tsuchimikado asked, "Are you calling me in order to warn me off pursing my client's information needs? You of all people should know that goes against my personal business policy."

Aliester responded, "An admirable 'policy' that you always attempt to adhere to." If Tsuchimikado did not know any better, he would suspect that Aliester was being sarcastic, but then again he also thought that might actually be the way Aliester does portray sarcasm. Before Tsuchimikado could consider that topic any further Aliester stated, "I do not wish to prevent you from pursing any further information. What I truly wish for you to do is the exact opposite. I wish for you to continue assisting your client's tasks, but you should use the Imagine Breaker to help you with it."

Tsuchimikado's eyes narrowed as he stated, "Is that so? I can think of more than one way to make that possible, but what would your preferred method be?"

Aliester answered in a matter of fact tone, "You shall receive a necessary document. How you use it will be your choice? I trust that you will not disappointment."

Tsuchimikado bitterly stated, "No. I would never do that, especially not for someone like you."

Aliester responded, "I'm glad to hear it."

Afterwards, the line went dead, and Tsuchimikado received the documentation that Aliester told him that he would receive. He quickly looked it over, and it did not take much for him to figure out the best course of action to recruit Touma for this venture. If he timed this all correctly, he would be killing two birds with one stone. However, it could be a risky maneuver for more than one party, so he would need to be careful about his 'presentation.'

Tsuchimikado said to himself, "This is very interesting indeed. Kamiyan will definitely wish to hear about this. Not to mention this will give me the perfect opportunity to help my other client at the same time. I hope your schedule will be wide open Devil because it is almost time for you to start asserting more of our authority."

As Tsuchimikado was making his way to school, he decided to call his other 'relevant' client. He told her, "Regarding the sample you wish for me to obtain, I think I have found a way to obtain it much faster than I would have expected. It will involve a more creative approach."

The female voice on the other line responded, "Does it involve telling others about our arrangement?"

Tsuchimikado responded in a playful tone, "Of course not. It will involve me telling others about 'Beta-Zero,' but my involvement with you will remain undisclosed."

The female voice stated, "Very well. As long as you keep your arrangement with me undisclosed, I do not care about how you obtain the sample. The sample is all that I need in order to fulfill my goal."

Tsuchimikado stated, "Glad to hear it. I will be sure to arrange a meeting with you after I obtain the sample. It shouldn't be long now."

/

**Location: The Strange – Big Spider Territory – Touma's Home**

It had been a day and a half since Wataru saved Touma's life from the Hunters. Needless to say he was shaken up by the experience. After all, despite what he usually did out there, it was not every day someone attempted to decapitate him with a chainsaw. He knew that he could bring himself to stop being the 'Devil of Academy City,' but he also knew that he could no longer afford to do things by himself anymore. This meant that he may have to put others in danger for the sake of his vigilante deeds.

He knew that Konori and Wataru would be willing to help him, but he was not sure how things could go from there. Many thoughts went though his head. Would his actions inadvertently get them killed? Would they stop helping him after the first few runs? Would they end up hating him before this was over?

Touma's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a knock on his door. He saw that it was Konori and let her in. Before she could say anything, he knew exactly what this was going to be about. He figured if Wataru would tell anyone, it would be Konori.

Touma said in a sad voice, "So did he tell you about what happened?"

Konori answered with a concerned look, "He told me shortly after you got back. I would have gone to see you sooner, but Wataru told me to give you a little space before coming to see you."

Touma gave her an understanding look as he responded, "I see. It was probably for the best you did. I'm not sure if I would have been the best conversationalist at that point."

Konori responded, "Yeah that's understandable. I would have hard time talking to anyone either if something like that happened to me."

There was an awkward silence in the room for a few moments before Touma blurted out, "That whole experience proved him right." Konori remained silent so Touma could continue saying what he felt needed to be said. "Wataru warned me repeatedly that I should take someone with me. He told me that if I kept going on my own, I would probably end up dead. I would be dead if he didn't stop those psychopaths. They would have decapitated me." Touma instinctively put his hand on his neck. "The thought that nearly happened frightens me. Despite everything I have seen, it still troubles me to know that such people like that could exist." As Touma was saying that last sentence his memories of Ai's death at the hands of Ketsueki flashed before his eyes. "After that near death experience, I know that I can't just do what I have been doing anymore."

Konori hesitantly asked, "Are you giving up on doing you runs?"

Touma was fast to reply, "No. It's far from it. I know that I need to change how I have been doing them. Otherwise, I would have learned nothing from this experience."

Konori had an idea of what he was getting at, but she wanted a confirmation, "What do you have in mind."

Touma answered in a mixed voice, "I need to start working together with you, Wataru, and everyone else in the Big Spider. Wataru told me that I need to start working together with my fellow members, and that experience has proven to me just how limited I am if I keep doing it alone, but I'm just nervous."

Konori knew exactly what Touma meant by 'nervous' when she asked, "Are you nervous about repeating the history of your past in some way?"

Touma responded, "Yes. Yes I am. I just don't want to cause anyone else to die because of me, but I know that I can't do anything without putting others at risk now, so I'm not sure how I can move forward."

Konori smiled as she stated, "You know that is a relief to hear you say that to me."

Touma was confused. "Huh?"

Konori repeated and explained herself, "I said it is a relief to hear you say that. If you didn't care about what happened to others than no one would want to help you, but the fact you care means that you will do what you can to protect them. I am sure if someone goes with you, they will be comforted by the fact that you care for their safety, and I am sure they will repay the loyalty that you give them."

Touma took a few moments to process what Konori was telling him before he responded, "I see. I guess that makes sense." Konori could see that Touma wanted to say something else, but was not entirely certain of the words, so she waited for him to think of it. "In that case, Konori-chan do you mind if I ask you something?"

Konori responded, "I don't mind at all."

Touma nervously asked, "I don't want to force you into anything you don't want to be in, but would you still be interested in going on a 'run' with me. We could go on a run tomorrow if you are interested."

That was something Konori was glad to hear. "Yes of course I would be. I have been hoping that you would ask me to come along one of these days."

Touma smiled and said, "While we are out there, do you think that you could help me come up with ways to get along with some of the other members of Big Spider."

Konori laughed at that last request, "That's going to take quite a bit of work, but I'll be up for the challenge."

Touma was not offended by that. He had not been the friendliest or welcoming individual in Big Spider, so it might take a bit of work to form any kind of friendships. They exchanged a few laughs, and they looked forward to what tomorrow would bring them.

/

**Location: The Strange –**** Big Spider Headquarters**

A few days later, Touma and Konori returned to the Big Spider headquarters after another one of their runs. For the past few days, Touma and Konori had been working together in a cohesive effort. Depending on the situation, Touma and Konori would fight the criminals together and other times Konori would watch from a distance and only interfere if it seemed necessary. They would both wear distinctively different masks whenever they would go on those runs. Touma was not the only one that needed to protect his identity after all.

Konori and Wataru had also been helping Touma interact with other members of the Big Spider as well. Touma's relationships with a few members, such as Jiro, Haru, Daiki, Kazuki, and strangely Kyuzo, were showing signs of improvement. Having these building friendships was making Touma feel more optimistic about the future. However, he knew there was still a long road ahead of him.

After Touma and Konori returned, Wataru informed Touma that his associate arrived a little while ago and wished to speak to him in private. Touma knew exactly who Wataru was talking about and left to go meet with his associate immediately. When he entered the room, he saw that the free lance spy, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, was waiting for him.

Tsuchimikado grinned at Touma as he returned from his most recent exploit, "So how's it going Kamiyan? Were you successful in punishing another Power abuser?"

Touma decided there was no harm in answering that question as he told him, "Yes, but it was another Esper who wished to fight me by any means necessary. He didn't care if it meant attacking random innocent people."

Tsuchimikado remarked, "Well you are becoming quite the legend out there. Getting that kind of attention from some crazy people comes with the territory." It appeared as if this was Tsuchimikado's own way of warning Touma of what he should expect to come.

While Touma did feel a sense of pride in his accomplishment, he also was not thrilled about the possible territories his actions and 'fame' may take him. "Yeah I know. I can only hope that will stop if I beat the crap out of enough of them. Although, I doubt that could be possible. That would be a little too idealistic for me to believe."

Tsuchimikado stated in a half-mocking tone, "It is good to be optimistic, but I wouldn't recommend you get your hopes too high. However, I won't stop you regardless of the decision you make. It's none of my business anyway."

Touma was finding Tsuchimikado's remarks to be less amusing as their conversation continued, which caused him to state, "Well I take it you didn't come here to see me to congratulate and mock me. You are obviously here for something else."

Tsuchimikado replied in a playful tone, "You hit the nail on the head. I came here because I found out the information you asked me about plus I have a bonus for you."

Touma asked in a surprised voice, "A bonus? What is it?"

Tsuchimikado told Touma, "First things first, I need you to pay the agreed upon amount plus an extra ten percent for this bonus information."

Touma eyed Tsuchimikado suspiciously as he stated, "Is this bonus information for something completely different? You better not be cheating me Tsuchimikado."

Tsuchimikado only laughed at Touma's implied threat, "You and I both know without that gun on your hip, you would pose no threat to me Kamiyan."

While Touma knew what Tsuchimikado said was true, he was not intimidated by Tsuchimikado's superior fighting abilities. "I don't intend to use it on you. However, I would recommend that you don't give me a reason to."

Tsuchimikado gave a wicked grin at Touma's words. "I like you're style Kamiyan. Don't worry you'll find the information to be worthwhile. I guarantee it." Tsuchimikado's words and tone made it clear that he was in his 'business mode.'

Touma knew that Tsuchimikado was a consummate liar and backstabber, but he also knew that when Tsuchimikado was in business mode, his words could be trusted. Besides, Touma knew it would not be in Tsuchimikado's best interest to be selling him useless information. Touma paid Tsuchimikado the amount he required and looked upon the new document he was given. Touma was stunned by this, "What the hell is this?"

Tsuchimikado explained, "As the document says, they are a group of Level Zero Espers who refer to themselves as the "Devil's Representatives.' They have been committing assaults and thefts over the past few weeks, and they have claimed the crimes they have committed were in the name of 'The Devil of Academy City,' namely you."

Touma asked in a perplexed tone, "Why haven't I heard about this?"

Tsuchimikado stated in a matter of fact tone, "You of all people should know what the Board of Directors are capable of Kamiyan. They would prefer Academy City to have a good public image, so they have kept these incidents on the hush-hush while the Anti-Skill make their 'attempts' to take care of them. So far the only locations they have hit have been areas, such as alleyways and small parks, so it has been easy to cover things up and 'convince' people to remain quiet. However, I doubt it will remain that way for too long. The group seems prepared to take things 'mainstream,' and I am certain it will involve hurting a lot of innocent people."

Touma read through the document even further, and the power these Espers have been able "Well I know better than anyone that Level Zeros are not to be underestimated, but how can they pull off so many thefts when some of their victims were Level Threes or Fours."

Tsuchimikado stated in an impatient tone, "I would recommend you to keep reading. You have almost gotten to the good part."

Touma continued to read the document and read to his astonishment, "They are Level Zeros, but produce powers that are close to the equivalent of a Level Three or Four. How is that possible?"

Tsuchimikado responded to Touma's question with a deadpan snark, "Well Kamiyan, I don't think I need to remind you that we are living in a place where creating the supernatural is possible. This shouldn't surprise you too much."

Touma was not offended by Tsuchimikado's tone as he said, "That's true, but I didn't think such a drastic improvement was possible even with the Esper Development Program. I mean the last system check was recent. Despite anything the Board of Directors are capable of doing, someone would have managed to report these dramatic improvements."

Tsuchimikado stated, "Who says this is a result of good old fashion hard work."

Touma asked, "Are you saying it's something else that is responsible?" When he asked that question it seemed obvious that would be the case.

Tsuchimikado answered, "That something would be 'Beta Zero.'"

That response only led to another question. "'Beta Zero'? What is it?"

Tsuchimikado sighed as he told Touma, "You will read about it a few pages later, and you will see it provides quite a few details. However, the 'something' is only half of the story. The other half is the 'someone' who is responsible, and I think that 'someone' might have a connection to your past as well."

Hearing Tsuchimikado say that caught Touma's interest and his eyes opened up widely, "What do you mean?"

Tsuchimikado explained, "You probably didn't notice it, but a majority of those Level Zeros are also Child Errors, and you have probably heard there have been quite a few incidents regarding Child Errors over the past two years."

Touma thought for a few moments before responding. "I did hear a rumor about a few incidents, such as a few Child Errors going into a coma due to an experiment that went south. Some say it was due to negligence, but there has been no evidence. The only incident that has been on the official record was the attack on the Child Error Facility I lived in, and we both know that was never resolved outside of the fact all the killers were dead at the scene."

Tsuchimikado felt like he was about to state the obvious. "You probably know the explanation for that better than anyone Kamiyan. Unlike those other incidents the attack was out in the open, but the Board of Directors were able to pass it off as a bunch of psycho Epsers who wanted to test our their abilities on live targets. Even though there was evidence of security sabotage, there was conveniently no evidence to pinpoint the true culprit, and the same can be said for those other incidents."

Touma began to realize where this was going, "Are you saying the person behind the Child Error Facility attack and the one who gave those Level Zero Child Errors their powers is the same person?"

That was a question that even Tsuchimikado did not know the answer to, but he suspected as much. "There are no guarantees but the possibility that it is either the same person or the same group of people responsible for that incident is high. It seems evident based on how they continuously target Child Errors and are able to avoid receiving their comeuppance. I have a feeling if you interrogate one of them, you may find some answers. In that document I managed to find out their next target is the Underground Mall next week. The information in that document should help you come up with a strategy."

After absorbing all this information, Touma finally asked the question he felt that he should have asked sooner, "How were you able to obtain something like this?"

Tsuchimikado grinned as he stated, "They may be able to give the Anti-Skill the slip, but they can't do it to me."

Touma then asked, "Then you know where their headquarters are? We might be able to attack them there instead of letting other people's lives put at risk."

Tsuchimikado shook his head as he stated, "Unfortunately Kamiyan, they never stay together too long. It was hard enough to obtain the information that I have for you now."

Touma could see that even if Tsuchimikado knew anything else, he was hiding it well, and he would not be getting the information out of him unless he asked the right questions that he would be willing to answer. He reluctantly said to Tsuchimikado, "Fine. Can you tell me anything more about their target that can help me any further?"

Tsuchimikado smirked as he told Touma, "Certainly."

After telling Touma some additional information and providing him with the documentation, Touma had everything that was necessary. Before Tsuchimikado left, Touma stated, "You seem to be unusually helpful to me today."

Tsuchimikado stated in an 'innocent' tone, "Well that's what you pay me for."

Touma responded, "True, but you're being a little generous to me. I find that suspicious. Did you tell anyone else about this or about me?"

"You're being paranoid Kamiyan, but I suppose that I can't blame you. The fact you are so rightfully suspicious of me is one of the reasons I like you Kamiyan." Tsuchimikado chuckles a little before he continues. "I haven't told anyone else. You should know that when I'm being paid I don't lie. Besides, you are too valuable of a client to lose. I want you to be around for a good long while."

Tsuchimikado left the room and Touma continued to read through the documents in order to prepare for this upcoming operation. Even though Touma usually was the type to want to head into a situation right away, he knew that doing that in this situation would most likely lead to him getting arrested or killed. He did not want to repeat that mistake in the alleyway again, so he decided to call upon two individuals whose expertise would be necessary.

Touma used his phone to call upon Jiro and Ichirou to the room. He told them a few of the general details they needed to know, and they would be meeting again the following day with some of the other Big Spider members in order to ensure this upcoming 'operation' would be a success. Touma knew that he was going to need all the help he could get if he wished to resolve this problem. He was willing to acknowledge that working with others would be necessary. It was unfortunate that attempting to solve this problem would only lead to more problems further down the road, and they would be of great use and amusement to a number of others that resided in the darkness of Academy City.

/

**Location: Insider the Windowless Building**

While no one can enter the Windowless Building through conventional methods, Espers who had certain abilities, such as teleportation were capable of making their way in. Unfortunately, even if an Epser had those powers, they were not guaranteed entry into the building. Apparently, something about this building limited who could enter and leave.

Tsuchimikado was one individual who was permitted entry. However, since he lacked the ability of teleportation, he had to rely on one of the building's authorized teleporters. The person who allowed Tsuchimikado in was a young girl around his age. She had long red hair that she word in pigtails, and he had a very unconventional way of dressing by wearing her jacket as a cape and having numerous bandages around her chest rather than a shirt or a bra. It was as if she wanted to stand out.

Tsuchimikado said to the girl, "Thanks." The girl only nodded in response before teleporting away from the area.

After he was left alone, Tsuchimikado walked towards the center of the room. There was a strange cylinder container filled with strange fluids. Within it, there was a man who was positioned upside down. He had long silver hair, had greenish-silver eyes, wore a green hospital gown, and was wearing no shoes. If someone were to gaze upon him, it would be difficult to tell if they were looking upon the holiest of saints or the most retched criminal ever to walk this earth. The look on his face was nearly expressionless and his eyes appeared dull, but they hid a calculating mind. The man before Tsuchimikado was none other than the General Director of Academy City Aliester Crowley.

Aliester said to his guest, "You have completed your task?" Even though he phrased it as a question, he knew the answer. He only wanted to hear the confirmation himself.

Tsuchimikado said in a displeased tone, "Yes. Kamiyan knows everything he needs to know about that little mercenary group. I am pretty certain he will learn about Beta-Zero soon enough as well."

Aliester did not care to convey any gratitude to his subordinate, "Then it is almost time for his true trials to begin."

Tsuchimikado was visibly annoyed by this man, "Why is this necessary? You're just having him fight against a mercenary group one of your other subordinates created under your orders."

Aliester was willing to indulge Tsuchimikado's curiosity, "A few of my subordinates are still not convinced of the boy's capabilities. By having them create a group of their own, the boy will be able to prove himself that he is worthy of their time. Then he will receive the additional challenges he will need."

Tsuchimikado questioned, "But what if one of those challenges involves Kamiyan fighting one of the Level Fives? Even with his abilities and power, I doubt Kamiyan is ready to handle one of them. They might kill him." Tsuchimikado's tone seemed to indicate a slight sense of concern over his client's well being.

Even though Tsuchimikado was not surprised, his warning did not deter Aliester in the least. "The only way to truly test someone is to have them fight an opponent that is willing to fight him with all their might and no restraints. If my subordinates come to a similar conclusion, then I will not interfere."

Tsuchimikado asked in an annoyed tone, "What if Kamiyan really does die? What then? Isn't he supposed to be important to your plans? It seems like a dumb idea to allow such a key piece of your 'well laid' out plans be put into constant danger."

Once again, Aliester was unphased by Tsuchimikado's comments or questions. "He is one of several key pieces. While it would be regrettable for him to fall, there are alternative ways to keep the boy useful. I would rather the boy remain active, but as there are ways around that potential problem, it will not matter in the end."

Tsuchimikado was disgusted by what he was hearing, "I should have figured."

Aliester then stated in a matter of fact tone, "While we are on the subject, there is another group I believe would be interested in the boy as well. Be sure to provide them with a tip of the upcoming event. Assuming the boy is capable of passing this test, they will send him worthy opponents."

An envelope appeared in front of Tsuchimikado, and he was surprised when he read the contents. _"Aliester wants me to send these people information. I'm not sure if these people are better or worse than those damn Kiharas. My information on them is rather sparse. I think even I would feel bad about providing these people with any information. Although, since when do I have a choice regarding who I have to provide information to when it comes to Aliester's plans."_

After Tsuchimikado was finished with his internal monologue he said, "Fine. I will send it to them tomorrow." He then sarcastically stated, "I am sure they will be most intrigued with Kamiyan's abilities, and they will have a lot to offer him."

As Tsuchimikado turned to leave Aliester said, "Before you leave, there is another matter that needs to be discussed." He then added some extra emphasis to what he was about to say, "It is one matter that is of the upmost importance."

Tsuchimikado quickly surmised, "Are you talking about my work with Necessarus?"

Aliester answered in his matter of fact tone, "Indeed. What do you know about the one who holds the 103,000 Grimories?"

Despite Tsuchimikado's skills, his information on that topic was somewhat limited. "There isn't too much to tell. The only solid piece of information I currently have about her is that they call her, Index Librorum Prohibitorum, but I doubt that was her original name." Aliester seemed to have a minor reaction to what Tsuchimikado said, but it was hardly noticeable. "However, I do know a few details regarding her situation. Apparently, Necessarus has her memory wiped out on an annual basis. According to one of her friends, the official explanation is that the Grimores take up 85% of her brain and the other 15% is consumed in a year because of her photographic memory."

Aliester replied in an amused tone, "I assume the keeper's friends are foolish enough to believe such an obvious lie."

Tsuchimikado replied, "Yes they are. Those magicians are truly ignorant enough to believe their religion will provide them all the answers or their superiors are always going to tell them the truth. I of all people know that following someone blindly is a foolish idea that will only lead to trouble." As soon as Tsuchimikado said that he began to chuckle to himself, "Although, I guess it does make it easier for me to mess around with them. I am assuming that you don't have a problem with that."

Aliester casually told Tsuchimikado, "You can do as you please with them _**Fallere825**_ as long as you do not provide them with too much unnecessary information."

Tsuchimikado reassured Aliester, "I am aware of the information limitations, and I know the consequences of what will happen if I overstep it even once. You of course know I won't even think of going that far knowing what is at stake. After all, you of all people know there is at least one person in this world that I will never backstab. You have reminded me of that on numerous occasions."

Aliester seemed amused by Tsuchimikado's comments. "Correct. By knowing that information, it has prevented you from becoming an abnormality. Instead, you have become an asset for my higher goals."

Tsuchimikado responded with a sarcastic voice, "Well that's something to be proud of. It is such an honor to be considered a valuable asset by you." Before Tsuchimikado left he responded in a firm voice, "I know my end of the deal. You better make sure you keep up your end."

After Tsuchimikado made his statement, he took his leave. The teleporter returned and escorted Tsuchimikado out of the Windowless Building. The following day Tsuchimikado would handle an assignment that would affect the lives of a number of people within the Darkness of Academy City. Unfortunately, the lasting effects of this would not be pleasant.

With Tsuchimikado's departure, Aliester was left alone again. However, it soon became clear that Aliester was not nearly as alone as he seemed. There was a strange voice that could be heard throughout the room and asked, "So your true experiment is about to begin?"

Aliester replied, "Yes. The Imagine Breaker has had sufficient time to develop his skills and abilities, and from what I have observed it is time for him to be put to the test. We shall see if he is truly worthy of the Imagine Breaker he possesses."

The voice questioned Aliester, "Are you sure he posses the Imagine Breaker or is it the Imagine Breaker that possesses him?"

A strange smile appeared on Aliester's face, "Such semantics will not matter in the end. All that matters is that everything will fall into place within my calculations, and I will be the one that will make the ultimate decisions. Everything will fall into place."

/

**Omake**:

Touma: Well this really sucks. If this isn't a time to say 'such misfortune,' then I don't what is.

Mikoto: You're telling me. The main antagonist of this story basically says your value is practically the same if you're alive or dead, and there are a lot of people that really want to see you dead. Not to mention that you were almost decapitated in this chapter. Does it get any more disturbing than that?

Touma: Don't remind me. This is going to be so painful.

Mikoto: Well you are not the only character that the author of this story makes life terrible for. Take a look at Fairy Dance Alternate. From the way the author has Kirito 'treated' at the hands of that psychopath Sugou, you have it easy by comparison. At least you are capable of fighting back while Kirito can't do a thing. Not to mention, quite a number of characters in this story have faced gruesome fates as well.

Touma: I don't want to think about it. Not right now at least. At this point, it seems like the only people outside the Big Spider, you, and our parents who actually want me to be alive are Seria and Yomikawa.

Mikoto: You really need a bigger fan club. (_Mikoto then thinks about the fan club Touma has in the canon storyline._)Well maybe we should be more selective than that.

Touma: You know that whole Seria being interested in Yomikawa for her physical abilities seems somewhat familiar. Or at least the premise of it seems similar.

Mikoto: Are you talking about the fact that Seria wants to use Yomikawa's physical abilities to help her help you?

Touma: I guess that's how you would put it. It seems very familiar to me.

Mikoto: I think it should. The author partly got the idea of that from the pilot episode of "Person of Interest."

Touma: What do you mean?

Mikoto: Well in "Person of Interest" one of the main characters who goes by the name Harold Finch created a machine that can predict that a violent crime is going to happen that involves certain people regardless of whether they will be the victim, the perpetrator, or even both. While he wanted to help people, he was unable to do anything about it himself, so he recruited the other main character, John Reese, to act as the muscle. Basically, you can think of it as Seria taking Finch's place except she is simply a teenager and not crippled, and Yomikawa takes Reese's place due to having the personality to want to help others and having the physical capabilities to do it. I guess it also helps that they don't want kids to die.

Touma: The author really likes that show huh?

Mikoto: You're telling me. Although, perhaps we should talk about something else like the new season of Railgun and the upcoming English releases.

Touma: Didn't we talk about that last time?

Mikoto: Yes, but talking about them is still very relevant to what is happening now. It would be stupid not to discuss them now.

Touma: I see. I guess that is true.

Mikoto: As we discussed last time, the new season of Railgun is about to begin airing in Japan and the English dub for the first season will be released this month. Let's not forget that the English release for the seventh volume of the Railgun manga is also scheduled for April 2013 as well, which will conclude the Sisters arc and begin the story arc that is currently happening in the Japanese publication.

Touma: It seems like April 2013 is the "Month of Railgun" for both Japan and the West.

Mikoto: (laughs a little at Touma's comment) I'm very proud of that. Hopefully, Railgun will see success on both sides of the Pacific, so we can see more animated adaptations of the franchise and see more English translations.

Touma: Based on the Index movie's success in Japan in February and the fact the Railgun manga consistently sells well in Japan too, I think the future of the franchise will be fine in the domestic country. It is the West we really need to worry about. There are no guarantees that we will be receiving more English translations of the anime adaptations.

Mikoto: That is true. Apparently, Funimation stated at Sakura-con 2013 they are in 'negotiations' to obtain Index II, but we have no clue how well that will go. It would probably be a good idea to continue supporting the official English releases that Funimation and Seven Seas Entertainment have been providing for us.

Touma: You hear that readers besides leaving a review for this story be sure to purchase the official English translations for the franchise in both animated and manga form. We need to ensure the future of the franchise.

Mikoto: Not to mention that providing reviews helps give fanfiction authors for the Index franchise with motivation to keep writing stories like this. Please provide a contribution. After all, writing chapters like this are not an easy task.

Touma: Yeah they are fun to write, but they take a lot of time. Anyway, that is all the time we have for now.

Mikoto and Touma: (_They speak in unison_) See you next time! Be sure to leave some **reviews**!

/

**Author Notes**: Originally, I intended to name this chapter the "Importance of Friendship," but I realized that was not a good idea as I continued planning out more scenes. As I prepared more scenes, I was setting up for additional storylines and establishing various new characters. While Touma did learn his lesson that he should try working alongside his fellow Big Spider members the hard way, the scenes regarding the 'darkness of Academy City,' were greater in number and more important to the progression of the plotline. As a result, the chapter was re-titled and I changed the beginning poem. I think the original title will probably work better for the future chapter that will feature the public bath scene that I have planned in a later chapter.

As you know, I have introduced a few new original characters for the Big Spider and provided a more formal introduction for the canon character Hebitani Tsuguo. While this story will primarily focus on Touma, Wataru, and Konori, these characters will be making a few occasional appearances throughout the story. A few of them will make some important or supporting contributions here or there, but some will not really get much spotlight until later in the story. I figured that it would be a good idea to establish a few of them now since a few of their 'capabilities' will be coming in handy in the next chapter.

Out of curiosity, does the name Kyuzo remind you of anyone? Whether it does or does not, I will tell you the details. As you know, the Skill-Out does have a 'present-day' ninja. Due to that, while this story was still in the planning stages several months ago, I wanted to create a 'samurai' Skill-Out member, but I did not know what I would call him. However, after a bizarre turn of events of watching an anime titled Samurai Seven on the resurrect Toonami, I became aware of the classic foreign movie it was loosely based off of, Seven Samurai. In both the anime and the film, these samurai were hired by a village to fight bandits in exchange for food, most notably rice. One of these samurai was named Kyuzo, and the family name I gave him, Tsukuda, means 'cultivated rice field.' When I put both names together, I felt like I had found the perfect name for my modern day 'samurai.'

While I do try to give symbolic meanings or make some kind of connection for a number of my characters, that is not always the case. For some of the other original characters, such as Jiro and Ichirou, I did not have any special reasons for giving them those names. When I was naming them, my only criteria for those names were names that sounded cool. One of the names that I particularly liked was Jiro.

Regarding, the mysterious scientist that was with Kihara Gensei has quite a bit of a dark past that drives his hatred for Touma. He is the scientist that was foreshadowed back in Chapter Seven of the story, and his 'instability' will be a reoccurring subplot in the future. You can expect to learn more about his 'Freudian Excuse' for why he wishes for Touma's death much later on in the story and what obstacles he will create for Touma in the near future. When you learn all the facts about him, you will either feel sympathetic for his past, straight out hate him for his current actions, or possibly even a mixture of both.

As you can see, I prefer to foreshadow things relatively early on. I would strongly suggest paying close attention or rereading certain scenes because while a few scenes and characters might not always seem important or minor by comparison, they might really be triggering something important later on. I try to do the best I can to avoid ass pulls as much as possible. It helps make the eventual payoff all the more satisfying.

I have now set up a new poll that will be available for those of you who are interested. I want to know which of the new characters that I have introduced in this chapter seem the most interesting to you, regardless of whether they are canon or original. You will have the option of choosing two different characters or groups of characters.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you will participate in the poll and provide a review for my story. I always appreciate the feedback. I would definitely like to hear your thoughts on various aspects of the chapters, such as certain key scenes, character developments, developing plotlines that interest you, or the new characters that have been introduced. It is always a pleasure to read such reviews.

Additionally, be sure to check out the information sheet I set up on the To Aru Majutsu no Index fanfiction forum, "To Aru Series Fanfiction Spot." It is a forum that any fellow Index/Railgun fanfiction writers can try promoting their stories, and it has really been an underutilized outlet. Be sure to give it a chance to provide topic posts for your stories, and reply to some of the established topics to increase activity in the forum. If we all participate in it, I am sure the forum can become what it should be and more of our stories will receive the attention they deserve.

/

**Fanfiction Promotion**

Fairy Dance Alternate – Chapter 7 – Separated by Realities – Release Date: April 26, 2013

Begin reading of Kirito's exploits during his two and a half months trapped within his new virtual prison of Alfheim Online. What actions did he take? Who did he meet? What did he witness? The answers to these questions will begin to be revealed starting with the next chapter. Be sure to read and provide feedback.

There will be a popularity contest poll made available to select your favorite characters out of the ones that have been introduced during the first seven chapters. Be sure to read through all of Chapter 7 before taking part in it.


	14. Story IV: The Devil's Reign Part III

**Author Notes**: I apologize for this chapter being a little late. It was my intention to publish this chapter in May, but there were some things I needed to take care of. One was working on the new Sword Art Online fanfiction story. With the work I managed to complete for that story, you can expect the first chapter to be published on July 8th, 2013. For that story, you can expect the first few chapters to be released bi-weekly throughout the remainder of the summer. I hope you will give that story a try when it is released next month.

Anyway, now that I have completed a sufficient amount of material for my new story it is time to refocus on "Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories" and "Fairy Dance Alternate." You can expect both of these stories to receive a few updates throughout the remainder of 2013. In future chapters, you can expect a number of things to change, plots develop, and the introduction of a number of new characters. In fact, you will be seeing the introduction of a fairly major new character in this chapter.

This new character is someone that I have had in the planning stages for months. I basically knew almost everything about this character before I started writing him, including what his personality would be and a majority of his abilities. The main trouble I had with him was coming up with a decent name, but I found one that I was satisfied with. Hopefully, you will like this character as well as his name.

I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter and leave a review. I greatly appreciate the support. Additionally, I would like to hear your thoughts about this new character.

/

Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories

Side Story IV: The Devil's Reign Part III

Chapter Fourteen: Sting and Consequences

/

Domino Effect

Events can cause other events

How will it all end?

/

At this point it has been nearly three months since Touma began his reign as the 'Devil of Academy City.' During that time, he had personally defeated numerous criminals regardless of whether they were Espers or ordinary humans. Most of them would be given brutal beatings, and they would receive his trademark finisher of receiving bullet wounds to their legs. While Touma's treatment of these criminals could be considered extreme, they made the people who witnessed his actions both fear and appreciate him. Touma's actions were also what made the Devil of Academy City one of the greatest Urban Legends ever. Whether they hated or loved the Devil, people would keep talking about his exploits for years to come.

Unfortunately, despite these accomplishments and the fame the Devil received, it would be unrealistic to believe that all the criminals of Academy City would suddenly decide to give up their 'livelihoods' or their 'fun releases.' While some of the lesser criminals would decide not to take a chance, there were plenty of others who did not care about the possibility of facing the Devil. In fact, a number of them welcomed the opportunity to fight the Devil himself. Some of them believed an encounter would be a thrill that they could not turn down.

Additionally, it would also be unrealistic to believe that Touma was capable of handling all of these criminals himself. Touma may have had the determination to save as many people as possible, but he was not omnipotent. Even though Touma was now accepting help from his fellow Big Spider members whether it was to accompany him on his runs or even allowing another member temporarily to take his place to defeat certain criminals, it was impossible for Touma or the Big Spider to cover the entire city. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts there were crimes that would take place that none of them would be able to do anything about.

This crime in particular was happening miles away from where Touma and his fellow Big Spider members were. They were all making preparations for the upcoming sting operation, so they could take care of the 'Devil's Representatives.' Fortunately, for the victim, this was one crime that would be prevented by another individual that wished for justice.

However, it would be unfortunate for the perpetrators that the individual they were about to encounter had much more vicious ways of taking care of his opponents than the Devil. If they were given a choice, they would have wished to suffer gunshot wounds to their legs ten times over rather than to deal with this man. At least then they would have had a chance to live another day. With this man, the best they could hope for was an instant death otherwise he would ensure they suffered until they died.

/

**Location: Alleyways approximately twenty miles away from Touma's current location**

There was a pre-teen boy who was a few years younger than Touma. However, unlike Touma or a majority of Academy City's population, this boy was a foreigner who moved from Australia. While Academy City was open to foreigners and not strictly limited to the Japanese population, the number of foreigners who actually lived in Academy City whether they were students, scientists, or any other profession, were few and far between.

Even though Academy City was more of its own entity rather than being part of Japan, the fact a majority of the population was Japanese did cause there to be a high level of Japanese Nationalism in certain areas. While most citizens of Academy City were not openly hostile, it was not unusual for some citizens in Japan to openly discriminate against the foreign citizen. There were times when the foreign citizen would be ostracized from public areas, such as restaurants, but that was hardly the worst of it.

Unfortunately, due to the discrimination, a few of these foreigners were prone to be targeted for crimes. These criminals had a cruel way of making it clear that they were not welcoming to foreign residents on Japanese soil. These facts could be interpreted as some of the reasons why a fair number of these foreign residents were more susceptible to join organizations within the darkness of Academy City. At least the darkness of Academy City was less likely to discriminate as long as they had a use for the individual.

For the past few minutes, these criminals had been beating up the Australian pre-teen, and they suddenly stopped. It seemed as if they were starting to get a little bored with simply beating the kid up. They appeared as if they were ready to do something else. Since the kid had seen their faces, they had no intention of simply letting the kid walk away.

The leaded of the group pulled out a knife told the kid with a smug smile, "It is just a shame that you came here when you did. If you hadn't seen what you just saw, this wouldn't be happening."

With fear in his eyes the kid asked, "Why are you doing this? Is it because I'm not Japanese?"

The leader chuckled, "That wouldn't be the only reason, but I won't lie to you. That reason would be good enough for me." He then readied himself to kill the child before him. "You don't have to worry about it. Since we have already punished you enough, I plan on making this execution as painless for you as possible. My friends would not be offering you that luxury. That much I can . . ."

Before he could finish his sentence, a ray of light covered his entire head. When it vanished, the leader's head was gone and blood was spewing from his neck. The man was decapitated and no one realized it until his body hit the ground with a loud 'thud.' When they realized what had just happened, their eyes were wide open in horror as they saw the entire ground was covered in their leader's blood.

His subordinate's all gasped at their leader's sudden decapitation and cried out, "FUMISATO!" Of course their screams would not do their recently deceased leader any good. Not even the best doctor of Academy City would have been able to save him. After all, he was incapable of resurrecting the dead.

The three subordinates were frightened as they nervously looked all over to see who their leader's murderer was. However, all they could see were the shadows in the alleyway. All three of them had their backs to each other in order to ensure that no one would be able to take them from behind. However, despite their pathetic attempts to ensure they would not meet the same fate as their leader, it would be all for nothing in the end. They would be joining their leader soon enough.

One of the subordinates shouted out, "Come out you chicken! How dare you just shoot someone in the back of the head!"

Another of the subordinates shouted, "Yeah you damn coward! You should face your opponent if you are going to kill them."

The last of the subordinates stated, "I bet you wouldn't be able to handle all three of us at once if you decided to fight up front."

All of them had been talking a 'big game,' but they were all attempting to mask how frightened they were of their unknown assailant. After the last one spoke, there was a few minutes of silence before a voice suddenly responded. The voice casually stated, "So you want me to come face you all head on? I believe that can be arranged quite easily."

The three subordinates followed the source of the voice. They nervously turned to look in the direction of their leader's executioner. The source of the voice was still hiding in the shadows, but they saw from his silhouette that he was holding two guns. They could see that smoke was coming out of the weapon he was holding in his right hand which indicated that was the one that attacker used to kill their friend.

One of them said in a frightened voice, "Are you the Devil? I thought you didn't kill your targets."

The attacker spoke in a confident voice that was clearly male, "No I am not the Devil, but in a few minutes you are going to wish I was."

The attacker stepped out of the shadows, so they could see his appearance. The attacker wore a helmet over his head that completely covered his face and hair. His helmet had special lenses that allowed the attacker to see outside his helmet without the need of eye holes. While he was capable of seeing outside his helmet, no one was capable of seeing inside it. In addition to the helmet, the man was wearing full body armor from head to toe. With the body armor this man was wearing, it would be impossible for anyone to identify any physical features other than possibly guessing his height.

However, one distinctive feature about this man that anyone would notice was the two guns he carried around. However, the distinguishing feature was not that he had dual wielding guns, but it was the cable that was attached to them. There was a cable that directly attached from the bottom of both guns that seemed to connect to the armor of the man's arms. However, due to the man's body armor, you could not tell that the cable actually went deeper than connecting his armor to his weapons. In fact, the cable was directly connected to the man's veins.

The direct connection this cable had between the man's weapons and his arms gave him a stinging sensation from time to time. However, considering the fact this connection was what helped keep his powers under control, the man truly felt that the 'stinging sensation' was nothing compared to what would happen if they were not there at all. In fact, he considered the irritation a part of his due karma for what happened in his past. This man had secretly feared the day when karma would ask more out of him.

After looking over the man's appearance for a few seconds another one of his frightened soon to be victims asked, "Then who the hell are you?"

The man introduced himself in a dark and threatening voice, "My name is Jūhō, and I will be the last Esper you will see alive. This alleyway is going to be your grave." Despite wearing a helmet, there was a speaker that allowed his soon-to-be victims to clearly hear every word Jūhō spoke. Jūhō believed that his victims should be allowed to hear his every word, so they would know what their executioner sounded like before they died.

When Jūhō spoke those words, he was not being arrogant. He was stating a fact. Jūhō was the type of Esper who would never underestimate his opponent's abilities. In this case, Jūhō knew for a fact that these Espers would never stand a chance against him even if all of them tried attacking him at once. They would all suffer a miserable fate at his hand that day. In fact, they would wish they were quickly decapitated like their friend was moments ago rather than being able to live a few minutes longer because the agony they were about to experience would be unbearable.

One of the subordinates put up a brave façade and told Jūhō, "You really think you can take on all of us?"

Another one of the subordinates attempted to play along with the tough talk. "Yeah that's right. You should do the math. There are three of us and only one of you."

Jūhō of course was not intimidated by his enemies pathetic attempts to frighten him. He could see in their eyes how frightened they were. He responded, "It is amazing how people like you forget how little numbers can really mean in a place like this."

As soon as he said that, he pointed his weapon directly at them. "I have a new math problem for you. Do all of your powers together equal the strength of a Level Four?"

Jūhō's words caused all three of his soon-to-be victims to open their eyes wide in horror at what he was implying. "Do you mean that you are a Level Four?"

He responded in a casual voice, "Indeed I am."

One of his soon-to-be victims nervously asked, "Then what is a big shot like you doing in a place like this? Why kill us? After all, we are just little blimps on the radar in a place like Academy City."

"The simple answer would be that I'm being paid to do that. Although," Jūhō changed his tone from sounding casual and intimidating to being one that was becoming filled with disgust, "even if I wasn't hired to hunt you down, I would have gladly done this for free. Trash like you does not deserve to live in this world. Eliminating you from existence will be one of the highlights of my day. You may be little blimps on the radar, but you don't even deserve that much."

Jūhō then pulled the trigger and a blast of energy was shot out of his weapon. It was as fast as a bullet, but the damage that it was going to do would be of a wider range and more extensive. No one would want to be hit by something like that because it would be unlikely anyone would survive it.

/

**Jūhō** was a Level Four Esper, and his ability was known as '**Energy Body**.' By utilizing an effective medium, such as the guns that were literally attached to his body, he was capable of absorbing energy from Esper abilities and certain natural energies, such as electric currents. However, there were limits to the amount of energy he could absorb and the sources he could absorb energy from. For example, he could not absorb energy from the earth itself. Although it was unknown if that could change if his powers were able to increase exponentially and they were at the equivalent of a Level Five. Since Jūhō was the most power Esper with this type of ability, the complete limits of this ability remained unknown.

His ability did not allow him to absorb energy from any Esper ability either. The Esper energies that Jūhō could absorb were usually of the projectile type, such as electrical blasts, fire type attacks, ice attacks, and so on. However, he would not be able to absorb energy from Esper abilities that were focused solely on the physical body, such as enhanced strength. Jūhō was incapable of absorbing regular type attacks, such as gun fire or missiles, but he was capable of absorbing the blasts that resulted from explosions regardless of what was the source.

In addition to absorbing energies, he was capable of using effective mediums to utilize the energies for attacks. Jūhō's guns allowed him to fire blasts of energy that came from either his own body or the energies that he had absorbed from others. He was also capable of using energy to form shields around his body. However, creating shields depleted his energy significantly after a short period of time which was why he preferred to rely on his full body armor. Additionally, even though the medium that Jūhō used were guns, he was capable of utilizing the energy to form various kinds of attacks. However, energy blasts are Jūhō's preferred choice of attack because he considered them to be easier to use, and they were generally more than effective.

While Jūhō prefered to use mediums when he was utilizing his powers, he was actually more than capable of using his powers without them. Unfortunately, shortly after he first became an Esper, he lost control of his ability and caused an incident. Jūhō suffered grave consequences due to his loss of control, and he was never the same since. Eventually, he discarded his original name and became Jūhō. After the incident, he received the trademark guns, and he rarely disconnected them from his arms. As long as he had the guns attached to his arms, his powers only activated when he wished them to.

/

It took less than two minutes for Jūhō to do as he promised. He had erased the three remaining Espers from the face of the Earth. What was left of their mutilated corpses laid at his feet, and the entire alleyway was completely covered in blood. However, despite the sight, Jūhō knew that the public would never have knowledge of this incident.

After Jūhō killed the final gang member, a device on his left arm activated that had several buttons on it, and it had the appearance of a communication device. Jūhō dialed a sequence of buttons on the device that acted as a communicator between him and his employer. When Jūhō received a reply from his employer he stated, "Professor the job has been completed. All four targets are dead."

The person on the other line said in a voice that would indicate he was a man of advanced age, "Excellent. You have done excellent work again Jūhō. The cleanup crews will arrive shortly to erase any sign of this incident."

Jūhō asked in a dry voice, "Business as usual?"

The Professor responded, "That's correct. We wouldn't want the wrong people to know about what you do. It would be a real shame to lose a valuable asset like yourself."

Jūhō responded in a somewhat sarcastic manner, "I would imagine so."

The Professor ignored Jūhō's sarcasm and asked, "Were there any witnesses?"

Jūhō responded in a serious voice, "Yes there is a young boy here, and I believe you know exactly what I intend to do with him."

The Professor answered, "I am aware of what you will do. As long as there is no one capable of recollecting the events that transpire, that is enough to satisfy me. Proceed with your normal routine and return to headquarters after everything is taken care of."

Jūhō stated in a firm voice, "Understood Professor."

After the communication was cut off, Jūhō then turned to the teenage boy who was still cowering in the corner. He could see the young teenage boy was frightened after witnessing Jūhō's brutal treatment of the criminals. It was an event like this that would leave someone traumatized. However, this boy would not need to worry about being traumatized by witnessing this event. Jūhō had a different idea in mind for this boy that would take care of the burden of those memories permanently.

He walked up to the boy and said in a regretful voice, "I am sorry you had to witness that. However, you do not have to worry about anything. It will be completely out of your mind soon enough."

Jūhō proceeded to grab the boy, and he hit the back of his neck which rendered the boy unconscious. It would be sometime before the boy would wake up. However, by the time that happened, the boy would have no recollection of what had happened in this area. Instead, his memories would be completely replaced by something else.

As soon as Jūhō made sure the teenager was unconscious, he called out, "Michiko it's time for you to play your role."

A young teenage girl, who was approximately fifteen years old, walked out from the shadows. Her hair was dark brown and worn in long pigtails that both reached down to her waist. Even though her eyes indicated she had witnessed or was responsible for many deaths in her lifetime, her beautiful princess-like face would indicate otherwise. This girl's name was **Fukazawa Michiko**, and she was Jūhō's self-proclaimed partner. He did not object to hearing her stating such things, but he did not readily agree to it either. The best way to describe Jūhō's stance on the situation was neutral.

Despite her lack of 'offensive abilities,' her physical capabilities and 'support techniques' made her a useful asset to Jūhō, and the organization he worked for. One of her support abilities included memory tampering. In a matter of minutes she had erased the memories of the incident from the teenage boy's mind and replaced them with something much happier. They were going to leave the boy in a nearby park to ensure that his new memories would seem 'consistent' and remain in his mind permanently.

/

Jūhō made it clear to the Professor from the start that he would not execute innocent civilians, and he would not allow his colleagues to murder innocent civilians for the sake of covering their tracks either. After Jūhō saved Michiko's life, he found out her capabilities, and he was most interested in learning more about her powers. She agreed to help him prevent needless causalities by using her powers to erase their memories, healing injuries, and making any other contributions she could. Michiko had more than earned her place in Jūhō's eye, and she had proven her usefulness to the other members of the group too.

While the Professor's character was far from being 'upstanding,' he was far more reasonable than the Kiharas were. He was willing to accept Jūhō's terms. After Michiko would erase the memories of any witnesses with believable fake memories, the Professor would leave the innocent civilians alone, and he would not attempt to eliminate them. As far as he was concerned, it would be a waste to do so at that point, and he was open to the possibility that not killing witnesses and finding alternative ways of taking care of the threat made it possible that there could be more possible assets he could use in the future. On more than one occasion that ironically ended up being the case.

There was one occasion where a witness by the name of Baba Yoshio was a witness to Jūhō killing certain targets. However, Michiko was able to erase Baba's memories of the incident. Less than six months later, Baba's abilities with hacking and robotics caught the Professor's interest, and he decided to recruit Baba into his organization. Baba had consistently been a valued asset to the Professor ever since. Although, working closely with the Professor had certain 'side effects' that no one could escape from, especially Baba Yoshio

After working for the Professor for only a few months Baba had changed significantly, and he was far from being that innocent civilian Jūhō and Michiko had originally spared. After someone became wrapped up into the 'darkness of Academy City,' it tended to change them. Jūhō knew that for a fact because after he entered the darkness he knew that he would never be the same again. However, he also knew that if he did not work for the Professor in the first place he would not be alive today.

For those who knew Jūhō's past, they would describe the circumstances he was in as a 'Catch-22.' Jūhō believed he made the best choice he could in those circumstances, and he did not regret his decision. To be more accurate, Jūhō believed that he could never regret it. At least now, he could be alive. Additionally, he both loved and hated the new role he was given because even though it involved dirtying his hands, he could ensure those that deserved to die would die and those that should live could live.

/

After Michiko was done replacing the civilian's memories and healing his injuries, several unknown men walked onto the scene. They were the 'cleanup crew' that would ensure that this altercation would never be in the public record. There would be no Anti-Skill reports or witness accounts. It would be as if it never happened. The Espers that Jūhō killed were already considered to be 'runaways,' and it was unlikely anyone would ever come looking for them. Chances were that they would be labeled as 'legally dead' relatively soon, so the possibility of them being killed by another Esper would not raise any eyebrows.

Due to these circumstances, Jūhō knew full well that he would be getting away with murder, and he had no reason to fear any possible retribution for his deeds. However, Jūhō believed there was no way for someone to truly escape his karma. He was a firm believer that when you kill someone, his or her spirit would haunt you for the rest of your life. Jūhō knew if that was indeed the case, he had dozens upon dozens of spirits that would have grudges and wished for him to suffer nothing more than a painful death. Jūhō knew in his bones that a day like that would most likely happen as long as he lived in this life within the darkness.

Even though living in Academy City would tend to cause people not to think along those lines, he felt he believed that ever since he needed to connect those cables from his guns directly into his veins. There were times when he could swear he heard voices of the people he either killed by accident or for the sake of his duty, but he would keep his reactions to himself underneath his helmet. Most of the time, he had no difficulty drowning them out because he knew most of his victims deserved what they received. However, there were a few voices in particular he could never turn off because those were the voices he knew were right, and they had every reason to hate him.

Michiko walked up to Jūhō, and she noticed that he had a slight injury to his left arm. She said to him in a playfully sarcastic voice, "You must be slipping Jūhō to have allowed those losers to put a dent in your armor."

Jūhō was not offended by what Michiko stated and told her, "It was a lucky shot. A surprise attack I did not expect from them. However, like they say, 'surprise attacks only work once.' Even if they did a better job with their surprise attacks, it would not have been enough to kill me. You of all people should know that."

"Of course I do. If it weren't for your capabilities, I wouldn't be standing here. Regardless, I don't think we should leave that alone." She walked up next to him, and she put her hand on Jūhō's wound. Then she chanted, "I call upon the name, _**Chiryo-shi24**_. With this healing power please mend this man's injuries."

After Michiko chanted these words, a strange energy began to manifest itself on her hands. She then placed her hand right above his injury, and it healed instantly. It was as if nothing had touched Jūhō's skin. It did not matter how many times Jūhō witnessed this phenomenon. He always found himself amazed by the sight of it.

Jūhō replied in a grateful tone, "Thanks."

Michiko nodded and replied, "Don't mention it. It's probably one of the only things I am really good at anyway. At least, I can be of use to you."

Jūhō chuckled a little, "You shouldn't take yourself too lightly Michiko. Anyway, I have to say that it must be pretty convenient to be a **Magician** rather than an **Esper** isn't it? You can utilize multiple types of talents, and that makes you far more useful to anyone than I ever could be."

The remark Jūhō made referenced the fact that at this point in Academy City's history the ability for an Esper to '**dual wield**' abilities was currently impossible. While it was possible for Espers to find multiple ways to utilize their abilities, it was still 'supposedly' not possible to wield multiple types of abilities at once. In Jūhō's case, his ability 'Energy Body' enabled him to absorb energies from Esper abilities and certain natural sources and emit them from his body.

His particular ability allowed him to use it to fight or defend himself through various methods. However, he would not be capable of a different type of ability, such as manipulating different elements of nature or teleportation. While he was skilled at utilizing his abilities, it did not mean he was fond of them. Until the day he had met Michiko, hardly a day went by when he did not wish he had a different ability. It was after he met her, that he was better able to accept what he had and tried making the best of it.

Michiko replied, "That can be true, but my abilities are more meant for support services. At my current level, I would not be too much help on the frontlines. Even if I were to learn offensive type abilities, I doubt that I would be able to stand a chance against you or the opponents that I have seen you fight against. Your powers are far too great." Michiko then confidently told Jūhō, "I bet you would be able to absorb energies from my attacks as well."

Jūhō was less confident in Michiko's theory. "I know I can absorb an attack formed from Esper abilities, but do you really think I could absorb energies from a magical type attack? You told me that if I were to perform magic, I would receive some kind of backlash that could seriously injure or possibly even kill me." Jūhō thought about his blood vessels blowing up due to the possible backlash he could face. If that were to happen, Jūhō had no clue how absorbing magic would affect his ability to control his own powers. He then stated in a somewhat nervous voice, "That's why you said me becoming an Esper/Magician hybrid would be impossible right? Couldn't absorbing a magical attack do the same thing?"

While Michiko could understand Jūhō's concern, she did not believe it could cause that kind of problem. "I don't think so. Absorbing the energy and actually performing the act to create the energy are two different things. You could always ask **Ramiero** sometime if you wish to experiment."

Jūhō was quick to blow off that suggestion. He did not hesitate to say, "I hope you're kidding about that suggestion. If I were to experiment with Ramiero I might as well cut off my own head if anything were to go wrong. That guy is powerful, bloodthirsty, and crazy just like most of the Level Fives. I might be able to take him, but there is no way I would take a chance of standing still to see if I can absorb one of his attacks. That would be suicide."

Michiko thought about it for a second before sheepishly agreeing that her idea was a stupid one. "I suppose that is true."

However, Jūhō was not done giving his reasons for why sparring with Ramiero would be a terrible idea. "If that wasn't enough, that guy kind of freaks me out. Need I remind you that he sometimes takes people's skin to literally copy their appearance. According to him, all he needs is a small tissue sample. Luckily for me, I have this helmet on. Otherwise, I would be afraid that he would disguise himself as you or someone to get at me."

Michiko was starting to get a little annoyed as she said, "Okay you made your point. Ramiero would be a bad sparring partner."

Jūhō then playfully stated, "Well I'm glad we are on the same page now."

Michiko decided it would be best to change the topic of their conversation. "Anyway, do you want to know what I find amazing?"

Jūhō asked in an interested voice, "What would that be?"

Michiko replied, "Personally, I find it amazing that you are able to understand the existence of magic so well. Whenever I have had explaining it to others, they get confused easily. Usually after a few additionally tries, I write it off as a lost cause, and I simply give up trying to explain anything to them."

"I will admit there was a time when I probably would have been no different." Jūhō then took a good look at the cable that connected his guns to his veins. Thoughts of his past went through his mind before he stated, "Although there have been plenty of things that have opened my eyes. Those events have caused me to become more willing to listen and understand. I wish to avoid any unnecessary problems, and one of the best ways to do that is to understand anything that might be useful or important. I would imagine comprehending the existence of an alternative method to gain supernatural powers would be something significant."

Michiko nodded as she said, "Very true. It is just unfortunate there are too few Espers of this city seem to be willing to go that far."

Jūhō responded, "The Professor seems willing to understand about such things."

Michiko responded in a dry voice, "Another true statement, but the Professor is a scientist not an Esper. Besides, we both know that his reasons for understanding are far less noble than yours. It sometimes makes me wonder why you are so devoted to him."

Jūhō sounded much more serious as he told Michiko, "I have already explained that to you. I owe him everything I have left."

Michiko responded in a serious voice of her own. "I understand that. I truly do. However, you have already devoted yourself to him for a number of years. You have put your live on the line for him numerous times already. With everything you have done for him, I am certain your debt to the Professor has been more than paid."

Jūhō was not convinced by Michiko's words. He responded, "Life debts are not so simply paid and erased. I know in retrospect that his reasons for helping me are far from selfless or noble but because I could be used. However, the fact remains that he helped me, and he gave me a purpose. He does not enslave me because he has given me the option to leave if I wish. I remain as his subordinate by choice. Similar to how you choose to remain by my side by choice."

Michiko stated in a more pleading voice, "I know, but one of these days, you are going to take on an assignment that even you will not be able to handle. I want you to get out of this life before that day happens."

Jūhō said to Michiko's concerns in a neutral voice, "When it comes to this life, a day like that is bound to happen sooner or later regardless of anything we do."

Before Michiko could respond to Jūhō, his communicator began ringing. This time the Professor was calling him. Jūhō knew that even though he had just completed an assignment, it was likely he was about to receive another one. When he finished talking to the Professor, he was surprised to hear what exactly he was assigned to do.

Jūhō asked in a questioning voice, "Are you sure about this sir? We don't usually try to associate with those people." After hearing the Professor's response, Jūhō responded in an accepting voice, "I understand. It makes sense when you put it like that. You can expect the job to be completed when they reach the position."

After Jūhō deactivated his communicator, he turned back to Michiko and told her in a somewhat regretful voice, "I'm sorry about this Michiko, but do you mind if we continue this conversation another time? I have business elsewhere."

Michiko was reluctant, but she could see that Jūhō's services were needed for something else. She asked, "Okay, but do you need my help for this."

Jūhō responded, "This is not the type of job that will require memory loss. I can guarantee that. In this case, people will be expecting that someone would want these people dead, so even if there are witnesses, it will not matter. This is a simple job that you do not have to worry about Michiko."

She reluctantly stated, "All right fine. I might as well take that kid with me and put him somewhere to wake up that will collaborate with the memories I gave him." Michiko picked up the young boy and left to place him in a nearby park, so there would be less of a chance for any inconsistency with his memories.

After Michiko left, Jūhō continued to watch the cleanup crew finish their job. While Jūhō was witnessing the 'cleanup' efforts of his latest endeavor, he decided it was time to savor his victory in his own way before leaving to go on his next assignment. He pulled out an apple from his pouch in his armor. Jūhō activated a function in his helmet that revealed the lower half of his face, so he would not need to take off his helmet in order to eat the apple.

Jūhō stated to himself, "I suppose this is the perfect break time snack between handling these types of assignments." After he was done eating, he then said, "Well I guess it is time to get back to 'business as usual.'" He closed the lower half of his helmet and prepped his guns before heading back to the field to kill his new victims.

/

**Location: Big Spider Headquarters**

**Time: Earlier that week – Four days before the Sting Operation**

For the past few days, Touma and other members of Big Spider were conducting business of their own. In fact at this particular moment, Touma was in the middle of conducting preparations of the Sting Operation to defeat the Devil's Representatives. According to the information that Tsuchimikado supplied Touma, their next target was the Underground Mall. Due to its massive size, it was definitely the perfect target for a gang of rouge Espers to attack if they wished to gain the spotlight.

The participants in this operation along with Touma would be Kurozuma Wataru, Konori Mii, Hashimoto Jiro, Tsukuda Kyuzo, and Akiyama Ichirou. Touma had discussed the details regarding the information that Tsuchimikado had given him in detail. Due to Ichirou's position in the Anti-Skill, it was not difficult for him to obtain the schematics of the underground mall, so they could plan their operation accordingly. It did not take long before they were able to formulate a plan.

According to Tsuchimikado's information, the Devil's Representatives would attack at approximately noon. Touma and Konori would be inside the mall keeping a low profile by acting like customers. They would both wear disguises that would alter their appearance, with Konori altering her appearance much more in comparison to Touma's for good reason.

Both Touma and Konori would enter the mall through different entrances. They would remain at opposite ends of the mall, and they would not come into direct contact with each other. However, if an emergency arose, they would be able to contact each other through their intercoms, but they stressed they could only use it if it was an emergency and not a moment before.

While Touma and Konori would be their eyes and ears on the inside, Wataru would remain outside the mall. Tsuchimikado'sinformation did not directly indicate if the attack would happen inside the Underground Mall or right outside it, so they decided it would be for the best of Wataru would keep watch on one of the main outside areas of the mall in case the attack was initiated on the outside instead. If Wataru needed help, Touma and Konori would be close enough to give him assistance and vice versa.

However, this operation was going to require more than simply fighting the Devil's Representatives. They needed to ensure that there would be no way for the Anti-Skill to use this incident to identify any of them. This is where Jiro and Kyuzo would come in. The two of them would enter the Underground Mall's security office to disable the security personnel and any possible Judgment members who would be there.

Since Jiro lacked any kind of fighting ability, Kyuzo would be the necessary muscle to pull off this job. Additionally, Kyuzo would stand guard to ensure none of the Devil's Representatives would be successful in attacking the security office. As soon as Jiro had his chance, he would disable the security cameras and prevent them from being able to record anything during the duration of an hour before the operation was set to begin until an hour after it was supposed to be over. With Jiro's expertise, it would be nearly impossible to restore any lost footage, and he would leave no evidence behind to indicate his involvement. Additionally, Jiro would have control over other devices, such as the shutter doors, so Touma and Konori would be able to escape without any issues.

The last piece of the plan would be Ichirou's role. Ichirou knew that while the Anti-Skill were not the most reliable in dealing with incidents because they would not always be 'informed,' he knew that this incident would be too public for anyone to ignore. If they did ignore what was about to happen or arrive too late, the city would 'lose face' if people spread rumors that their self-defense force was non-responsive. He decided it would be for the best to remain in the closest base to the mall. By staying behind, Ichirou would be in the best position to warn his fellow Big Spider members when to expect the Anti-Skill's arrival and what the best exits to use as an escape.

When they were going over the schematics for the Underground Mall that Tsuchimikado provided them, Ichirou was the first to notice something was off. He interrupted what Wataru was saying, "There has to be something wrong with this map."

Wataru was not offended by the interruption and asked, "What's wrong Ichirou?"

Ichirou explained in a calm voice, "Those schematics are different from the official schematics of the Underground Mall I 'borrowed' from the Anti-Skill office." He displayed it for the others to see.

Jiro was the first to state, "It would appear that someone added two new exits that lead quite a ways from the Underground Mall."

Ichirou added, "That's right. If the Anti-Skill were to set up a perimeter around the Underground Mall's entrances and exits, these new exits would make it possible for someone to literally sneak past them."

Konori stated in a deadpan voice, "How very convenient that the Anti-Skill apparently have no knowledge of these 'exits.'"

Ichirou replied in a voice filled with disgust, "There are a lot of things that have been convenient about the Anti-Skill not being available when they have been needed plenty of other times in the past. It doesn't matter whether it is something like not getting the call on time or having an insufficient amount of information. People always suffer in the end due to Anti-Skill's general inability to act. Obtaining vital piece of Intel such as this makes it clear that someone doesn't want us to complete our public service properly."

Touma asked in a curious tone, "Then you mean that the Devil's Representatives probably know the existence of these exits as well?"

Ichirou answered in a grim voice, "In all likelihood yes. I thought it was weird they would supposedly attack a place that could easily be surrounded without a way of getting out, but the fact there are these exits that the Anti-Skill have no knowledge tells me enough. It is likely that someone with influence really must be in league with this group."

Touma thought to himself bitterly, _"If that is true, then maybe this could get me one step closer to the person who was responsible for the Child Error Incident. I will make sure to get at least one of those bastards to talk to me before I knock them out."_

Konori stated in an analytical tone, "That would appear to be the case. It would be recommended that we attempt to interrogate at least one of these individuals to see if we can get any leads."

Wataru then added his own input. "Yes. Being able to force some information out of one of them would be a good idea." Wataru turned to Touma and stated, "I think you will know what to ask one of them right Devil?"

Touma nodded and replied, "Yes. I know exactly what needs to be done, and I will be looking forward to it."

Wataru stated, "This information your spy gave you does give us an advantage too. Instead of attempting to blend in with the crowd or trying to find a way to avoid the Anti-Skill, we can use those exits instead. All we will need is a little time to get to these exits after our tasks are over." Wataru then turned to Ichirou and asked, "Ichirou can you buy us some time for that?"

Ichirou replied, "When it comes down to it, I can buy you a few minutes. However, the most I can do is convince them to wait a few minutes for possible negotiations. After that time table runs out, there is nothing more I can really do."

Wataru was not surprised to hear that as he stated, "That will be enough. In any case, we have a few more details to iron out then."

About an hour later, after the final details were discussed, Wataru asked his subordinates in an authoritative voice, "Are we all clear what our roles will be?"

Everyone else in the room stated with a clear, "Yes."

Even though he was certain there was no need to ask this, Wataru asked his subordinates, "Are there any objections to the plan?"

The other members of the room replied in unison, "No."

Wataru then gave his final order for the night, "In that case, you are all dismissed. Be sure to get some rest and start making your own preparations because every second counts."

Everyone stated, "Yes sir." Then they all left to return to their own rooms to get some sleep and begin their own personal preparations for the operation ahead.

/

**Location: Underground Mall – Security Office**

**Time: Day of the Sting Operation – 11:00 a.m.**

The day started out like any other day for the security officers. At this time, it was only a handful of them in the office because it was supposed to be a relatively slow day. However, they were expecting a few members from Judgment to arrive later in the day to help with patrol and cleaning. These officers were more welcoming to Judgment members coming to the mall because Judgment members tended not look down on Espers who had weaker to no powers or humans who choose not to go through the 'Esper Curriculum.' Similar to Anti-Skill, Judgment wanted to keep the peace of Academy City.

Unlike the Anti-Skill, the participants in Judgment were students of Academy City rather than adults. Judgment's jurisdictions were more limited than the Anti-Skill, so if any Judgment members were to take unauthorized actions, they would need to fill out a lot of paperwork. In addition to handling duties, such as patrol, settling unauthorized fights, and occasionally arresting criminals, members of Judgment were also required to handle numerous secondary activities, such as cleaning and helping people find their lost items. While being a member of Judgment did not provide much of a reward, the fact the participants were helping Academy City did give the members a sense of pride, and most of them enjoyed being members.

Before the Judgment members were expected to arrive, one of security guards was becoming bored sitting at his desk. He told his partners in the room, "I'm going to start my patrol early today. See you later." None of them objected to what he said, and he left the office without any issues.

However, the security guard was not able to walk twenty feet away from the door, before he was struck by a wooden sword. With one hit, he was knocked unconscious. Before he fell to the ground, he was caught by Kyuzo and dragged away, so the security cameras would not see him. According to the schematics, if Kyuzo had let him keep walking, he would have been in range of the security camera, and he would not be able to stop him from entering the mall without alerting the other security personnel. Kyuzo knew that it would be for the best if they incapacitated all the security personnel they could.

Kyuzo said to his victim in an apologetic tone, "I apologize for this, but it will definitely be for the best if you don't wake up." After he took the guard's keys he then turned towards the office's door and began walking towards it.

While Kyuzo was taking care of the guard outside the office, one of the security guards who was watching the monitors stated, "Something about this is weird."

One of the other security guards asked, "What's weird?"

The first security guard explained, "Tabito left the office about a minute ago. I should have seen him appear on at least one of the security screens by now, but I haven't seen him at all. I wonder what's going on."

Unfortunately, the other security guards were more laid back about the possible implications and one of them responded, "Well he does know where all the security cameras are located. Maybe he is ducking into their blind spots and will ask us if he managed to avoid the cameras when he gets back."

The first guard did not really buy that story. "That might be it, but I don't know. Something about this seems off."

A few seconds later, they heard the door open. The security officer watching the monitors turned toward the opening door asked, "Did you forget something Ta…"

However, the security officer did not have a chance to finish his statement because he saw the person entering was not the person he thought he was speaking to. This security officer was the first one Kyuzo targeted because he was the first to see him. After Kyuzo knocked the first security guard unconscious, the other four security guards attempted to react to the intruder's presence, but they were too slow. Before any of them had a chance to act, Kyuzo attacked the remaining four security guards, and he had no problem knocking them all unconscious in ten seconds flat.

As they all lay unconscious at his feet, Kyuzo apologized, "Sorry, but I believe you have mistaken me for someone else."

Jiro walked into the room shortly after Kyuzo had knocked all the security guards out. He was carrying the security guard that Kyuzo had knocked unconscious earlier. When Jiro saw the sight of all the other security guards, he stated in an amazed voice, "I can see why they assigned you to be my bodyguard for this one."

Kyuzo stated in a firm voice, "The room is secure now. I would suggest you get started on what Wataru and the Devil instructed you to do."

Jiro replied in a somewhat nervous voice, "Right."

As Jiro was messing with the security systems, Kyuzo was busy tying up and gagging all the security officers. While Kyuzo was certain that they would not be waking up anytime soon, Kyuzo decided to lock them in a closet, so they would pose no threat to them. He was certain that someone would probably come here and free them eventually. Kyuzo tried to use these thoughts so he would not feel too bad for the security guards he rendered unconscious.

While Kyuzo was tying up the security officers, he tried to also justify what he was doing was the right thing. He told himself that he was probably doing them a favor by knocking them unconscious and locking them up, which was probably true. After all, if they attempted to fight the Devil's Representatives, there was a good chance they would have gotten themselves killed. Mercy was not one of their strong suits. It was unfortunate that there would be numerous other security personnel in the mall who would not be as fortunate as the ones Kyuzo was locking up in the closet.

After Jiro was set up on his side, he communicated to the others, "All right. Everything is ready. Is everyone in position?"

He heard a joint response, "Yes."

Jiro responded, "All right then. Good luck."

/

Less than an hour later, a gang that referred to themselves as the Devil's Representatives attacked the Underground Mall as Tsuchimikado'sinformation told them. This group in particular was composed of approximately twenty individuals who all wielded some kind of dangerous ability. They acted like regular civilians and then they began assaulting the civilians and established their 'superiority' with their abilities. Everyone who attempted to fight them was brutally beaten, and they rounded up numerous hostages. The hostages were brought to the food court, and they were kept under close watch. It was unknown what the Devil's Representatives intended to do with them, but Touma and Konori were not going to wait and find out.

Predictably the security guards and a few of the civilians attempted to resist against the Devil's Representatives, but they did not stand a chance. The ones that resisted were given a severe beating. However, the Devil's Representatives were given orders not to kill their potential hostages, but they were free to beat them within an inch of their lives. Seeing the Devil's Representatives make short work of anyone who fought back frightened them, and they complied with the gang's instructions.

Since Touma and Konori were prepared for this to happen, they managed to avoid being 'rounded' up with the other hostages. A few of the other civilians managed to escape as well, but Touma and Konori stayed behind, so they could save the others. After all, taking down the Devil's Representatives was the point of this mission in the first place. However, this was not going to be as easy as either of them were hoping it would be. While they did consider the possibility that those Espers would hide behind hostages, there were more Espers to deal with than they were expecting.

Touma would have tried doing something about the Devil's Representatives, but he was not fast enough. He could see that with the way the gang members rounded up hostages that they would be in danger if he took any rash actions. He knew the best way to take care of this would be to pick them off one by one. Luckily for him, he had the opportunity to do so because a number of them were patrolling the halls to round up any additional hostages and secure the perimeter.

As Touma was putting on his mask, he heard Konori speak to him on his intercom in a whispered voice that indicated her concern, "Kamijou-san are you okay?"

Touma casually responded to her question in a whispered voice of his own. "What kind of question is that Konori-chan? I take it that you're fine as well."

Throughout their entire conversation, both Konori and Touma would continue speaking in whispered voices while keeping their eyes open for any potential threats. The last thing either of them needed was to have their voices give away their positions or be caught by the enemy because they were not paying attention. If that were to happen, they knew that Wataru would kill them for being that careless.

Konori stated in a dry voice, "I guess asking you that wasn't really necessary after all. Anyway, on a more serious note, what are we going to do about those hostages?"

Touma replied in a voice that indicate what needed to be done was obvious. "Well you know me. My first priority is to save them of course, but we are going to need to take care of some of those other Espers before we can even think about doing anything about them. If we charge in, I would be senselessly putting their lives as well as my own in danger."

Konori was not surprised by what Touma said in the least. "I was hoping you were going to say something like that, but I can tell you are going to need help on this. There are a few Espers near me. I can take them down while you focus on the ones near you."

While Touma was becoming willing to accept help, he was still somewhat uncomfortable in this current situation. He asked in a voice that indicated his uncertainty, "Are you sure you are up for taking them down like this? I know you can take care of yourself Konori-chan, but the circumstances here are a little different than when we have been on patrol. The stakes might be a little higher than we thought."

Konori responded to Touma's concern with, "As long as I take them out before they have a chance to activate their abilities, I should be fine right?"

Hearing Konori state something so naïve caused Touma to state in a somewhat annoyed voice, "In most cases yes, but unlike some of the other Espers we have fought against, we don't know what their abilities are capable of. There could be Espers that might make it impossible for you to touch them. When you attempt to attack them, it might leave you open to a counter attack." Touma thought to himself, _"I thought she was supposed to be the smarter more mature one. Is a role reversal happening here?"_

While the Big Spider had yet to encounter an Esper of that caliber, Touma was correct that there were Espers out there that no ordinary person could touch. The strongest Esper of Academy City, Accelerator, had the ability, Vector Change, which could repel anyone's attack back at them. However, in addition to repelling attacks, if someone touched Accelerator's skin while his power was active, it could result in the person suffering major injuries that could take days or weeks to recover from. Luckily, none of the Espers in this group had an ability of that nature, so Konori and Touma would not have to worry about that potential problem during this particular trial.

Konori took a breath before telling Touma, "I know you have a good point about that. We don't know what Beta-Zero gave these Espers. Logically, it would make sense if you use your right hand to take down all these Espers and I simply provide support as planned."

Touma replied, "Something tells me you are going to give a me a 'but' in this case right?"

Konori answered, "You saw that coming. Anyway, there are a lot more of these guys than we were expecting and the odds of you getting overwhelmed are high if you make a mistake, so this is a risk I am going to have to take Kamijou-san. I can't just let you take all these Espers out on your own after all. What kind of teammate would I be if I let you do all the work in this situation?"

Touma sighed because he could see that Konori was dead set on taking on these Espers with him. Instead of telling her to just leave everything to him, Touma reluctantly told her, "Just be careful when you try fighting these Espers. You might only have a few seconds at most before they have a chance to counter attack anything you try to do."

Hearing Touma tell her this rather than an outright refusal caused Konori to smile despite their current circumstances. Konori responded, "That's not going to be a problem."

Touma thought to himself, _"I thought Wataru was accusing me of being the reckless one. As it turns out, Konori-chan can be just as reckless as me in certain situations."_ Touma then thought of something else, _"Or perhaps this is her own way to prevent me from becoming too reckless."_ Touma was brought back to reality when he heard an Esper near his location. _"I guess that is something I will need to think about later."_

Konori and Touma ended their 'intercom conversation' by wishing each other good luck and agreeing to meet at the food court after they took down all the Espers in their sections. They finished putting on their masks to finish their disguises. It was time for the hunt of the various Devil Representatives to begin.

/

While most of the Devil's Representatives would have run-ins with either Touma or Konori, there would be one 'representative' who would be encountering someone completely different. As soon as one of them turned the corner, he was immediately punched the in the stomach. For a few moments, it felt as if the fist was going to go right through his stomach and exit through his back. The pain this Esper was feeling in his abdomen was excruciating, and he felt the wind being knocked out of him.

Before he had a chance to recover, he received another powerful punch in the face. It was more than enough to knock the Esper unconscious before he had a chance to activate his power. The attacker was none other than Tsuchimikado. Similar to the Big Spider Tsuchimikado had his own reasons for targeting the Devil's Representatives. He decided that he would use the Underground Mall and the little war that was about to start between the Devil and this gang of Espers to his advantage.

As Tsuchimikado looked down at his fallen victim, he said to himself in a quiet, smug tone, "That was too easy. I was hoping this guy would put up more of a fight since he has Esper abilities. Although, I guess all that power just went to your head." He then thought to himself, _"If that is the case, I bet these guys will be easy pickings for Kami-yan and his other Big Spider teammates."_

Tsuchimikado knelt next to his fallen victim and took out a needle that he jabbed into his neck. With this needle he managed to collect a sample of the victim's DNA, which he carefully placed in a container he was carrying. Afterwards, Tsuchimikadotouched the victim's boot, and he placed some kind of small device on it. He thought to himself, _"This should come in handy."_

Before Tsuchimikado left the body alone, he said to himself, "I suppose for the time being it would be more interesting to wait and see what Kami-yan and his friends in the Big Spider are going to do about the rest of the these so-called Espers. Besides, it will make my own escape from this Underground Mall easier. I just hope you are not going to disappoint me Kami-yan."

The Esper that Tsuchimikado took care of would be the only freebie that he would give Touma and Konori. After that, he sat on the sidelines and waited for the rest of the event to unfold. He knew that the 'official news' Academy City would give would never give the whole truth. This would be his one and only chance to see how this would turn out. While Tsuchimikado would not be able to witness everything that happened, he would witness enough of the significant events to know what happened. Additionally, Tsuchimikado figured knowing the truth would give him some information that he could sell to a few 'interested' individuals later on.

/

While stealth was far from Touma's favorite activity, he did receive enough training in that area to pull it off. The skills he had were more than enough for him to sneak up on these so-call Devil Representatives and pick them off one-by-one. However, if Touma was in a position that he needed to sneak up on more trained individuals, such as skilled members of the Anti-Skill, the likelihood that he would be successful in pulling off successful sneak attacks would be significantly lower. It was just fortunate for both Touma and Konori that the Anti-Skill were not their opponents.

As Touma quietly opened, the door, he could see his first target. After he entered the hallway, he carefully closed the door behind him, so he could avoid that wretched 'squeaking' sound. Luckily, this target did not notice his existence, and Touma continued to make his way towards his target. When Touma was within range, he grabbed his opponent's neck with his right arm. Before his opponent knew it, he had him in the choker hold.

His opponent struggled against Touma and attempted to activate his powers, but Touma's right arm was in contact with him which made that impossible. The man attempted to call out for help, but due to the pressure Touma was putting on his neck, it was nearly impossible for him to even breathe. With how roughly, Touma was holding his enemy, he was in a position to either break his victim's neck or knock him unconscious. While Touma did feel a slight temptation to do the former, he had every intention of doing the latter.

Before Touma's victim lost consciousness, he attempted to scratch Touma's face in desperation. It was a good thing Touma was wearing his mask because it acted as protection against such an attack. A few moments later, the man finally gave up and lost consciousness. Touma dragged the man's body into a nearby janitor's closet, so his friends would not notice it too easily.

Touma thought, _"That's one down."_ Before he finished that thought, he heard the footsteps of another approaching Esper, so he thought, _"Looks like I'm about to get another one."_ Touma immediately hid behind the corner as one of the doors to the hallway opened.

This time instead of approaching the enemy, Touma waited for his enemy to come to him. In Touma's opinion, this was the more difficult thing to do because it was slightly harder to pull off. When you have to wait for the enemies to come to you, they need to move into the right place for you to launch the appropriate attack. If they move 'off course,' then it could lead to a few problems or at the very least you may need to wait longer before you get another opportunity. Luckily, for Touma this would not be one of the situations where he would need to worry about that since it was relatively narrow hallway, so there was not much room for his soon-to-be victim to change direction.

Touma waited until he was certain that his soon-to-be victim was close before striking. At the right moment, he tripped his opponent to the ground which caused him to fall face first. Before the Esper could register what had happened to him, his hair was roughly grabbed by Touma's right hand. Touma proceeded to slam the man's head into the floor which knocked him unconscious and gave him a broken, bloody nose.

After Touma dragged off this Esper to the same closet he placed the other Esper in, Touma thought, _"It's too bad they all can't just come to me like this. That would make things much easier."_

Before Touma left, he noticed that the two of them had communication devices. He thought to himself, _"Well I can't say I wasn't expecting them to keep in contact with each other. However, something seems interesting about these devices." _Touma took one of them for himself, so he could give it to Jiro later. Touma then proceeded to contact Konori to tell her that the Espers are carrying communication devices, and it will only be a matter of time before the others notice something is wrong. He then proceeded to leave the hallway and move onto the next room in hopes to find another target to take care of before they start to get wise.

/

As Konori promised Touma, she stayed behind to take down these Espers one by one. She may not have Touma's Imagine Breaker to disable their abilities, but her physical capabilities were enough for her to hold her own. In addition to her physical capabilities, she also had something else that she could use, but she did not wish to rely on it. When she joined the Big Spider, she believed she turned her back on the idea of Esper related studies. Instead, she wanted to rely on what her time in the Big Spider had taught her.

In one of the hallways, Konori carefully listened to the approaching Esper's footsteps. As he approached, she became increasingly tempted to use her other technique to scan the area. She thought, _"Should I really use it? I haven't attempted to use it for months. Should I really try relying on it?" _As she heard the footsteps draw closer she thought, _"No. I don't need them. I have come too far to think about using them. I can do this without using it." _

As soon as Konori was certain that her target was within striking distance, she revealed herself and grabbed the man by the collar. The man was so surprised that he did not have a chance to activate his powers before she grabbed him and threw him into the wall. Before the Esper had the chance to recover from that attack, Konori proceeded to hit him in the throat. Her target was stunned and temporarily lost his voice after receiving the hit. Konori did not give him a chance to recover and proceeded to knock him unconscious with a kick to the stomach followed by a punch to the face.

Similar to the ones that Touma knocked unconscious, Konori found a communication device on her victim's person. Konori thought to herself, _"Well I can see these Espers have a little more common sense than some of the other ones that Touma has gone against. It looks like this will be more of a timed mission. I should tell Touma about this right away."_

However, before Konori could inform Touma she received a transmission from him. Touma told her in an urgent voice, "Konori-chan. These Espers are carrying communication devices. It is likely that in a few minutes they will start to realize some of their friends are down for the count."

Konori responded, "I noticed.I was about to warn you about the same thing." As she was saying this, she decided to take the Esper's communicator in case it could come in handy in some way.

Touma replied, "I see. In that case, let's do this quick."

Konori stated in a determined voice, "You don't have to tell me twice."

After Touma's transmission was cutoff, Konori proceeded to place the Esper she knocked out in a hiding place. She then continued to make her way to the next room a kitchen and cafeteria for the employees that worked in the Underground Mall. Konori was fortunate that the two Espers who were there were more interested in raiding the fridge than paying attention to watching their backs. It was an easy task for her to sneak up on them.

While sneaking up on them was the easy part, knocking them both unconscious simultaneously might be difficult. If she failed to knock both of them out at once, the other might have enough time to activate their powers and kill her. Quite a few scenarios played in her head as she approached them, and they were not pretty. She thought to herself if she should consider a different action.

One possibility she considered was waiting for them to finish raiding the fridge and possibly go after them when they separated. However, if she waited too long, it was possible that they would notice a few of their allies have already been taken care of, and it will be even more difficult to take them down. She told herself that she needed to take care of this now. Even though this would be her first time attempting a 'double takedown,' she kept telling herself that she could do it.

When she was finally in striking distance, she did not waste a moment. She acted immediately and grabbed both of their heads. Before they had a chance to realize what was about to happen, she slammed the Espers' heads into each other. It was possible that Konori might have inadvertently cracked one of their heads because she heard something that sounded like a crack. However, she did not have the luxury of worrying about that. Although, she did quickly check their pulses. They were alive.

Before Konori could continue her hunt for more members of the Devil's Representatives, she received a transmission from Wataru. Wataru called Konori on a frequency that would only allow the two of them to hear their conversation and Touma would not be able to listen in. It was for the better that Touma could not hear what they were saying. Otherwise, it would have distracted him from taking down the enemy he was attempting to sneak up on.

The first thing Wataru said was, "Well I guess the information our freelance spy provided us was correct after all."

Konori responded, "That would appear to be the case. I consider that bit of information to be both fortunate and unfortunate."

Wataru stated in an uneasy voice, "I know what you mean. I hate the fact that those bastards would hold those people hostage, but at least we can take them down and make it clear the Devil and the so-called 'Devil's Representatives' are not affiliated with each other."

Konori responded in a deadpan voice, "I think we should stick more to the idea of saving people's lives Wataru. I would think that should be our priority."

Wataru replied, "Of course we should. I'm just saying that this will kill at least two birds with one stone."

Konori scratched her head as she stated, "I guess that is one way of putting it. However, I really need to get back to hunting down these Espers before they start to realize some of their men are down."

Wataru's eyes opened up wide and said, "I see. I guess I have some bad timing then. Do you and Touma need some help?"

Konori responded in a confident voice, "Not with this, but we may need some help with rescuing the hostages. You should focus on helping us find a way to flank the Espers that are holding them."

Wataru was pleased by his subordinate's confidence in the field. "I'll be sure to do that. Do you know where the hostages are?"

Konori thought about it for a moment and replied, "I believe the hostages are being held in the food court."

While Wataru believed his subordinate, he had to ask to be certain, "You know this for a fact?"

Konori answered as honestly as she could, "Not quite, but I saw the Espers taking hostages in that direction, and it is the best place to keep them. That's why I am assuming they are going to be there."

That was an answer Wataru could accept as he replied, "Very well. Good luck dealing with the remaining Espers."

The signal from Wataru's transmission was cutoff, and Konori prepared herself for her next encounter. She would continue onward to take down a few more Espers with ease.

With how easy she was taking down these Espers, she could not help but wonder, _"I saw how dangerous these Espers were when they were taking the hostages. I wonder why they can be taken down so easily now? Could it be that they have become so reliant on their new powers from Beta-Zero that they are more prone to surprise attacks?" _

Konori decided it would be for the best not to voice out those thoughts at this time. She had more important things to accomplish. She figured that she could probably talk to Wataru about this after the mission was over.

/

While Touma and Konori were clearing the hallways, there were two members of the group that were making their way to the security office. The Big Spider members assumed that something along those lines would happen which was why Kyuzo was instructed to remain guarding the office while Jiro continued working on the Underground Mall's security systems. Given who Kyuzo was, he would prove to be a most valuable body guard.

Just like most members of the Skill-Out, Kyuzo did not have any kind of Esper abilities. However, similar to Wataru, Kyuzo had fighting abilities to more than make up for it. Due to the skills he acquired in his previous profession, he was more than capable of dealing with most kinds of Espers. While, in all likelihood, Kyuzo could have taken down the approaching Espers head on, he was instructed by Wataru to not engage the enemies directly. Instead, Kyuzo had to take on a more 'stealthy' approach. He was not thrilled about following those orders, but he obeyed just the same.

When the two Espers entered the security room, they saw Jiro working at the desk. One of them shouted out to Jiro, "Stop right there! Hands up where we can see them!" He activated a fire power with his hands. Jiro did not need any other motivation to comply as he held his hands up. The fire wielding Esper told his partner, "Search the area!"

The other Esper that was accompanying him said, "Okay." Jiro noticed that electrical sparks appeared to generate from his body which indicated he had abilities related to electricity.

While these two Espers did not introduce themselves, the name of the fire wielder was Nobu and the one with electrical powers was Manabura. These two Espers were members of Takaya's gang before they were all defeated by the Devil and received these Esper abilities from Beta Zero. After Takaya received the invitation to receive the Beta-Zero treatment, he brought his subordinates Nobu, Manabura, and Ryo along the way. For this crime, Takaya sent Nobu and Manabura to the security room while Ryo was one of the subordinates to stay behind to personally guard the hostages.

Jiro could see that the two Espers that were holding him hostage had fire and electrical abilities respectfully. He commented out loud, "So one of you had fire powers and another has electricity. I did not see that coming."

Nobu replied, "What? Were you expecting us to be fire and ice? That is such a cliché."

As Manabura was searching the security office, he was listening to what Jiro and Nobu said, and he gave his own sarcastic input. "Like fire and electricity is really that original either."

Nobu replied in an annoyed voice, "Shut up and keep looking!"

Jiro thought to himself, _"They seem to get along as well as fire and ice that's for sure."_

It did not take Manabura much longer before he found the security guards bound and gagged in the closet. He said in a sarcastic voice, "I guess you and the security guards here weren't exactly friends were you."

Despite being threatened by Nobu's fire abilities, Jiro calmly responded, "That would be one way of looking at it. However, I never got a chance to really speak with them. I have a feeling they would probably be decent guys if I tried to talk to them."

Nobu asked, "Are you in league with the 'Devil of Academy City'?"

Jiro did not hesitate to answer, "Your assumption would be correct. I have been providing support for the Devil while he has been taking down your 'co-workers' one-by-one."

Manubura suspiciously thought to himself, _"He seems a little too cooperative."_

However, Nobu broke Manubura's thought process as Nobu told him, "We have to tell Takaya that he can be expecting his long awaited rematch with the Devil. The time to put him in his place has finally come."

Manubura responded, "Yeah right. We should give him time . . ."

Jiro interrupted them both by telling them, "I don't think either of you will have a chance to contact your boss."

His comments were enough to get both Nobu and Manubura to face Jiro as a certain someone finally came out of his own hiding place. Kyuzo had hidden himself behind one of the desks. He knew that it would not have been a good hiding place if he was waiting them out. However, Kyuzo had a feeling they would find the security guards beforehand, and he would see the opening he needed to give them a surprise attack. Now that Kyuzo had seen his opening, he was going to take advantage of it.

Nobu asked in annoyed voice, "Why the hell not? What's stopping me?"

Jiro calmly stated, "Because I managed to distract you enough to waste enough time for that guy to take care of you both."

Before they had a chance to turn around, first Nobu and then Manubura were struck in the back of the head with Kyuzo's wooden sword. Within the space of five seconds, two more members of the Devil's Representatives were down for the count. Little did Takaya know that his men were dwindling.

Jiro said to Kyuzo in a congratulatory voice, "Nicely done Kyuzo."

On the other hand, Kyuzo was not as thrilled about what happened. "You might want to avoid telling people that I'm about to knock them out loud next time. I might not always be fast enough to take them down you know."

Jiro nonchalantly replied, "Those two were idiots. I knew that you could handle it."

Kyuzo responded in a sarcastic voice, "Thanks for the vote of confidence." He then stated in a more serious voice, "You still have some work to get done with. I suggest you get back to it. Our time window before the Anti-Skill come marching in here is getting smaller."

On that note, Jiro immediately returned to the computers and continued taking care of things on his end. Before he was done, there would be no evidence that the Anti-Skill could use to directly identify the Devil's true identity.

/

While Jiro was taking care of a few final details in the security office, Touma was in the middle of knocking out another one of the Devil's Representatives. He grabbed the head of another one of the gang members with his right hand and slammed the gang member's head against the wall. Touma made sure it was not enough to kill his victim, but he did make sure the blow would be sufficient to knock him unconscious.

After Touma had finished off this Esper, he called his teammates regarding the number of Espers they had taken down. The final count was that Touma had managed to take down a total of six, Konori had defeated six, Kyuzo had rounded up the two that were sent to the security room, and Touma found who was already knocked unconscious. They received a transmission from Ichirou that the number of Espers committing this attack should only be about twenty, so there should only be five left.

Konori asked in a suspicious voice, "How do they possibly know that? Were these guys stupid enough to give that information away?"

Ichirou replied, "The Anti-Skill received a text from someone who was able to send a message before they noticed."

Konori thought in a suspicious tone, _"That sounds very convenient. I have a hard time believing one of the hostages would have been able to somehow count all of those gang members and send that information to the Anti-Skill."_

Wataru's voice brought Konori out of her thoughts as he responded, "We can worry about those details later. For now, we should think there are five, but we cannot discount the possibility that the one who sent the message miscounted, so be prepared to possibly fight more than that."

Everyone seemed to be in agreement to that idea. Wataru then continued, "In a hostage situation, it would be recommended that there would be a sizeable force to remain behind to ensure that there would be no escapes. That would especially be true for the number of hostages they had taken. Most likely most of the other five if not all of them are guarding the hostages. It might be time for us to start taking a more direct action in handling finishing this problem."

Touma asked, "Do you have any suggestions Wataru?"

Wataru answered, "You could say that. You can definitely say that."

/

After Touma and Konori had cleared the hallways and Kyuzo had defended the security room, there were only five Espers left to fight. Unfortunately, they were all in the main area where they had rounded up a majority of the hostages. There would be no way for them to be taken on one by one without altering any of the others right away. However, by now they had already figured out something was wrong.

Ryo had finished speaking with the Anti-Skill, who had encircled all of the 'known' exits for the Underground Mall. He told his 'co-workers,' "The Anti-Skill should still be standing down for a little longer. They won't dare attack until they are certain that they can start taking action without endangering the lives of hostages."

However, one of Ryo's co-workers was not feeling nearly as confident as he was. He stated in a nervous voice, "That sounds good, but none of the other men have been responding to our messages for the past ten minutes. This must mean that they have been taken down by someone inside this mall. Did the Anti-Skill send someone?"

Ryo replied, "It is possible, but I have a feeling that something else might be happening. I think someone neither the Anti-Skill nor us invited has decided to join the show."

The Esper then asked, "Are you saying the 'Devil of Academy City' is here?"

Upon hearing the words, 'Devil of Academy City,' the hostages began to speak amongst themselves. A few of them were hopeful while some were more fearful. Either way, they could see that the situation they were in would soon come to an end.

Ryo shouted out loud, "QUIET!" He then pounded the floor with his foot that caused a hole in the ground. That was more than enough to cause the rest of the hostages to shrivel in fear. After he reaffirmed the group's control over the situation, Ryo then stated in a more tranquil voice, "We all expected that one of these days we would most likely be facing the 'Devil of Academy City.' It would appear that day has finally arrived. Takaya and I have been preparing for this day, and now we should be ready for the Devil's arrival."

No sooner had Ryo said that, he received a response, "I don't know what you have done to prepare for facing me, but I can promise you that it won't be enough." A new figure walked into the Food Court wearing a mask and dark clothing. Ryo recognized that attire belonging to the Devil of Academy City.

Ryo was visibly surprised at first, but his expression changed to being a more confident one. Unlike some of his 'co-workers,' he was looking forward to his encounter with the 'Devil.' The crowd was also whispering amongst themselves at the 'Devil's' arrival. Some were shocked that he truly existed while others were surprised at how greatly the rumors apparently exaggerated what his true appearance was.

The other four Espers gathered behind Ryo. While they could not claim to be looking forward to this encounter with the Devil as much as Ryo was, they did seem to think they could take on the Devil if they worked together. They gave up their last chance to surrender peacefully.

Ryo spoke in a smug voice, "I was hoping that I could pay you back for what you did to me back then Devil. I'm so happy that you decided to come see me yourself."

The Devil ignored what Ryo had said and remarked, "So there really are only five of you left."

Ryo confidently stated, "There may only be five of us left, but I'm sure that even you wouldn't stand a chance against all of us at once."

The Devil casually remarked, "That makes me wish that I thought about bringing some back up as well."

As if it was on cue, two of the other Espers were attacked from behind and knocked unconscious before they had a chance to react. It was Wataru and Konori pulling a surprise attack on two of the Devil's Representatives. When Konori told Wataru that she believed that the hostages were taken to the food court, Wataru managed to find a way to sneak into the food court, but he needed the Devil to create a distraction for it to work out.

While the three remaining Devil Representatives were distracted by Wataru and Konori's surprise attacks, the Devil ran up to attack the nearest one while stating, "Wait a minute, I did bring some back up." Before the remaining three knew what happened, the Devil managed to deck one of the remaining three that knocked him out instantly.

The only two left, including Ryo. Both Ryo and the Devil quickly engaged each other in battle. While the Devil and Ryo were engaged in the fight, Wataru decided to take on the only other remaining Esper. He stated out loud, "I haven't had enough chances to take you guys. I'll be sure to get what I can."

The Esper Wataru was engaging in combat with activated his power, and a strange aura began to form around his hands and feet. The name of the power Wataru's opponent activated was known as '**Aura Strength**.' When Wataru managed to dodge a punch the Esper was able to break through solid concrete without difficulty. Wataru knew that if he was to be hit directly by any of these attacks, they would literally go right through him. Luckily for Wataru, his opponent was not a fast one.

Wataru kept dodging his opponent's attacks until he found the right opportunity. After dodging one particular attack, the Esper's stomach was wide open, and Wataru proceeded to give him several quick jabs before giving him the knockout punch. This was probably one of the easiest battles Wataru had ever won.

However, while Wataru's battle was easy, Touma was slightly less fortunate. Unlike Wataru's opponent, Ryo was slightly more competent at utilizing his powers and fighting techniques. Similar to the other Esper, while Ryo could easily break through concrete it was not because his limbs were given enhanced strength. It was because Ryo's ability was known as '**Earth Manipulation**' which he was able to utilize in multiple ways.

Even though Ryo only had the power equivalent to that of a Level Two or Three, his power was still dangerous. When he kicks the ground, he could cause the surrounding area to be destroyed. Alternatively, he can manipulate the ground within a fifteen foot range of him. For example, while it takes some concentration and energy, he can use the ground to form weapons and attack his opponents.

After Ryo managed to dodge the Devil's punch, he decided to take things to the offensive. Ryo used his ability to have a spear shoot out from the ground which came close to impaling the Devil. He then followed up with using his powers to destroy the floor below the Devil's feet which he barely managed to dodge.

After seeing the Devil dodge his attacks rather than trying to use his right hand, Ryo came to the conclusion, _"The Devil's right hand is definitely capable of blocking Esper abilities, but it can't stop the collateral damage that is caused by them. When I smashed the ground before, he couldn't stop the cracks from forming because his ability can't undo the damage that has already been done. Additionally, when I formed that spear before, he didn't attempt to destroy it even though it was created using my powers. Could it be that he can't destroy something that is made of regular material even if it was created using abilities or is it something even he is not sure of yet?"_

However, Ryo knew that he did not have the luxury of waiting around to find out. The Devil managed to get close, and he came close to punching him out. As Ryo was dodging the Devil's attacks, he mocked the Devil by stating, "Ever since I gained this power, I have been waiting for this day. Now it is time for you to die."

Ryo then used his power to form another spear behind the Devil with the intention of impaling him through the back. However, before the spear could attack him, the Devil felt something foreboding behind him and ducked just in time before it would have killed him. Since the spear missed its target and Ryo was not in perfect control of his recently acquired ability, the spear was coming at him instead, and he barely managed to dodge it.

Before Ryo had a chance to attack the Devil again, his face became acquainted to the Devil's fist, which knocked him off his feet. The Devil then proceeded to punch Ryo in the face several more times before he finally lost consciousness. With that, all twenty members of the Devil's Representatives had been neutralized. The crisis was over.

For a moment, the Devil thought to himself, _"What was that feeling I had before. It was as if I knew that Esper was about to stab me in the back with that spear. How could that be possible?"_ The Devil looked at his right hand and thought, _"Does it have something to do with this? Is this somehow evolving? Or could it be something else?"_

Wataru could see the Devil was in deep thought, but Wataru knew they were not in a position to be taking it easy since the Anti-Skill had the entire area surrounded. He brought the Devil out of his thoughts by remarking, "I thought you wanted to question at least one of these 'Espers,' so you could get some information."

The Devil replied, "Saving the civilians was a priority. Besides, we can carry one of these Espers out with us." The Devil then pointed to the one he had just defeated, "Even though he is dangerous, he appeared to be the leader, so it might be a good idea to bring him along if are going to be getting anything."

Wataru sighed, "You can never make things easy can you?"

The Devil replied, "Since when have I ever made things that easy?"

While the Devil and Wataru were having their little 'conversation,' Konori was attempting crowd control with the hostages. Despite her threatening appearance, the hostages seemed to understand they had nothing to do with their kidnappers. Everything seemed to be calming down, and they would soon be in the Anti-Skill's custody.

However, despite how smoothly things were going or rather because they were going smoothly, Konori was still having difficulty that their operation was truly over. She thought to herself, _"I understand those Espers were still getting used to using their powers and we had the element of surprise, something still feels off. It feels like we are missing something."_

No sooner had she thought that, she noticed one of the civilians was acting strangely. He appeared to be reaching for something. She thought to herself, _"I don't like going through people's things without their permission, but this is too important."_

Something about Konori's eyes seemed to change. From her perspective, everything had changed from the vision you would expect through a normal person's eyes to that of an x-ray scanner. She immediately saw the suspicious person had a concealed knife. Konori realized, _"That man is one of the gang members."_

Konori was correct in that assumption. This man's name was Takaya, and he was the true leader of the gang they had defeated. He was also the one to provide the Anti-Skill the information that there were 'twenty' gang members while hiding amongst the crowd of civilians in case anything went south.

Before the gang member had a chance to move, Konori shouted out, "Kami-Devil-san! That man has a knife!"

As soon as Konori gave her warning, Takaya activated his Esper abilities. Takaya was 'blessed' with the Esper ability known as '**Enhanced Speed**,' which allowed him to run more than twice as fast as an average human being. By the time the Devil looked over his shoulder, his assailant was only a few feet away from him. In most cases, no one would be able to dodge what was about to happen. However, luckily for Kamijou Touma, he was not an ordinary person.

When Takaya attempted to stab the Devil, something in the Devil's head caused him to move his body on reflex. For a moment, it was as if The Devil knew exactly what he was supposed to do when he needed to. Everything that happened to the Devil in those moments was similar to a 'quick time event' that happens in video games sometimes when a character needs to perform certain actions quickly otherwise he or she will either be killed or seriously injured. In the Devil's case, when he obeyed what his head was telling him in those split seconds, and the knife missed his head by only an inch.

When the Devil dodged that attack, the shocked expression on Takaya's face was priceless. The Devil then proceeded to grab Takaya's arm with his right hand. As soon as his right hand grabbed Takay's arm, the trademark sound of shattering class could be heard, and Takaya could not activate his power to escape. Before Takaya could do anything else, the Devil proceeded to punch Takaya in the stomach, and he kicked Takaya to the ground. However, unlike the other representatives, the Devil did not knock Takaya unconscious because he wanted to interrogate him.

After witnessing what happened, Wataru stated, "Well at least we don't need to drag any of them along now."

The Devil ignored Wataru's comment and looked at Konori. He nodded his head in acknowledgement for her warning. He then proceeded to approach the gang member that was lying on the ground. When the Devil approached the gang member, and the Devil recognized him as Takaya, who was the same man who had two very unpleasant encounters with in the past. Needless to say, the Devil was not a happy person to be seeing this criminal's face outside of a jail cell. It was a good thing his mask prevented people from seeing his face.

In a blind rage, the Devil grabbed Takaya by the collar and shouted, "What the hell are you doing here? Why are you not in prison?"

Takaya remained silent. His face made it clear he was not going to willingly give up any information. However, the Devil did not mind getting a little rough even if there were plenty of innocent people that would be watching his actions. The only thing he said was, "If you don't want to see what happens next, I would advise you to turn around." A few people heeded his warning while others did not.

The Devil slammed Takaya to the ground on his stomach and picked up his knife. Takaya did not have the strength to resist as the Devil positioned his arms. The Devil then pierced both of Takay's hands with his own knife to pin them to the ground. This caused Takaya to scream in sheer pain. The Devil then put his foot on the knife and made sure the knife would remain planted in there until someone managed to pull it out. With every centimeter the Devil pushed the knife, it made Takaya scream louder. After the Devil had enough of Takaya's screaming, he proceeded to kick Takaya in the stomach to knock the wind right out of his lungs.

At Takaya was recovering from the kick, the Devil bent over and spoke to Takaya in a threatening tone, "Do you enjoy this feeling? Do you like feeling weak and helpless while another person decides your fate as if he was a god?"

Takaya gave no response, but his facial features answered the question. The Devil responded, "I didn't think so. You should remember this Takaya because this is what all your victims felt."

Before the Devil could continue, he heard Wataru order, "I get where you are coming from, but you need to get that information out of him now. We are running out of time."

That was enough to get the Devil back on task. He told Takaya, "If you want me to stop, you need to tell me who administered 'Beta-Zero' to you." For a few moments Takaya continued to refuse saying anything. The Devil proceeded to put his foot on the knife again until Takaya begged for him to stop.

Takaya desperately begged, "OKAY! OKAY! I'LL TELL YOU! I'LL TELL YOU!"

The Devil responded in a dark tone, "It's about time you started to cooperate. Who gave you the Beta-Zero?"

Takaya answered, "They were a group of scientists."

The Devil asked in a demanding voice, "What were their names?"

Takaya was not as willing to release that information as he remained silent, "…"

The Devil then shouted, "TELL ME WHAT THEIR NAMES ARE!"

When Takaya saw the Devil was about to place his foot on the knife again, Takaya answered, "The ones in charge went by the name Kihara."

For a moment, the Devil appeared surprised to hear that name because it felt familiar to him somehow. "…Did you say Kihara?"

Takaya desperately responded, "Yes."

The Devil thought back for a few moments before he finally remembered where he had heard that name before. _"Before the attack on the Child Error Facility, Yuudai told me the person in charge of the Child Error Facility went by the name of Kihara. If the scientists who went by the name Kihara are also responsible for experimenting on Child Errors and Level Zeroes, then they must be the ones responsible for the incident."_

He demanded to know, "Where can I find them?"

Takaya replied, "I wouldn't know. I met them at different facilities throughout Academy City, but if it helps, they are the ones that supplied us with a number of belongings."

The Devil took Takaya's communicator off his body and asked, "Are you saying that the Kiharas supplied you with these communicators?"

Takaya responded, "Yes. They gave us those communicators. There really isn't that much information I can tell you other than they came to me to ask if I wanted to finally obtain powers that I could call my own."

While Takaya seemed to be telling the truth for the most part, the Devil had a feeling that Takaya was leaving some information out. Unfortunately, they were running out of time, and he knew that his earlier suggestion of carrying out one of the Devil's Representatives would probably be a dangerous idea. It did not seem worth it to the Devil to keep interrogating Takaya or take him with him for the sake of obtaining information that might not be worth it or would take too long to obtain. Instead he opted to make sure Takaya would not be in any position to continue harming other civilians again for a while even if he is somehow let out of prison again.

The Devil took out his gun and Takaya's eyes widened in horror because he knew what was coming next. The Devil told Takaya in a sinister voice, "If you ever are ever let out of prison and you cause trouble or if I find out you lied to me, I promise you that I cannot be held accountable for my next punishment. You understand." Takaya shook his head desperarately and the Devil responded, "That's a good boy. I hope we will never meet again," and he proceeded to shoot both of Takaya's legs.

Takaya's screams of pain echoed throughout the food court. A number of the hostages were horrified at the Devil's actions while a few did not seem to mind what he did. The Devil did not pay much mind to the hostages and simply said to his fellow Big Spider members that he learned what he needed to learn. The two other members nodded their heads.

Wataru contacted Ichirou and asked, "Ichirou can you give us an update?"

Ichirou quietly told Wataru, "The only update I can give you is that the Anti-Skill have long since arrived and have finished surrounding all the exits. I can only tell you that you are fortunate that the Underground Mall is a big place and there are one or two new exits that were made that my fellow Anti-Skills were not informed about. Now is your chance to make your get away."

Wataru replied into his intercom, "Thank you Ichirou." He then contacted Jiro on his intercom and told him, "Okay its time Jiro." No sooner had Wataru said that, the lights were out again. By the time the lights came back on, the Devil, Wataru, and Konori were gone. The Devil and Konori were going to head to one exit while Wataru would meet up with Jiro and Kyuzo at the other exit.

Thanks to Jiro's handiwork, there would be no security tapes about what happened that day. Everything that happened within the past few hours would be completely wiped away from the system's memory. Jiro then set it up so the power and the cameras would function properly again after they were gone. He hoped that it would send a signal to the Anti-Skill that they should head into the mall, which it did. However, the only ones left in the mall would be the unconscious 'Devil Representatives' and their newly freed hostages.

There would be no security footage or evidence that the Big Spider were involved in this incident. Additionally, no one would be able to prove that Jiro was the one that made that possible. The only evidence the Anti-Skill would have would be a bunch of witnesses who saw someone proclaiming himself to be the Devil along with two other similarly dressed individuals taking down the last few members of the Esper gang. However, since the authority figures would not want the Devil to receive acknowledgement, most of them would opt to ignore the witness accounts with the exception of a few.

/

**Location: Alleyway – Designated Changing Area**

After Touma and Konori made their escape, they headed straight for the designated changing area. It was just an ordinary restroom that was did not stand out. Other members of Big Spider had left Touma and Konori with clothing to change into after the Sting Operation was complete. The Big Spider members hid the clothes in the bathrooms two days earlier, and they remained there without anyone noticing.

The area this restroom was not heavy with surveillance, and it was not an active part of the city. Even if any of the security cameras did spot the Skill-Outs, they did not appear to be doing anything suspicious before they reached the bathroom to stash the clothing. As a result, no security guard would think there was anything worth checking. As with any customary security camera, the old security footage that would have recorded those Big Spider members was erased after a day.

Touma was the first of the two to finish changing, so he waited outside for Konori to finish. While Touma was waiting outside the restroom, he was being bothered by some strange fly. He said in annoyance, "Such misfortune! Go away!"

After Touma managed to successfully swat the fly away, Konori emerged from the restroom. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God I don't have to wear that corset anymore. That was torture."

Touma sheepishly apologized to his friend, "Sorry about that Konori-chan, but we couldn't have you stand out, so we needed to take as many measures as possible."

Konori was a little annoyed by this as she asked, "You think I would be identified based on my breast size?"

Touma did not notice Konori's annoyance and he explained, "Well that did sort of happen in an anime I watched one time."

Konori suddenly became more interested in hearing more about this anime rather than staying annoyed, "What anime are you talking about?"

Touma thought for a few moments and replied, "The name is kind of hard to pronounced, but it had all these catchy opening and closing theme songs. It was a really great show with a lot of memorable characters. I think a majority of the plot took place in Ikebukuro."

Konori asked in a curious voice, "How does that show compare to my situation?"

Touma scratched his cheek as he tried to remember a certain episode of the anime. "If I recall, I think a female main character was chased around by all these gang members because they identified her based on her short dark hair, her glasses, and her big breasts. If it weren't for a friendlier gang, she would have been in big trouble. I think she even had to wear a bunny mascot suit at one point. It was pretty funny."

"Oh I see." However, she realized something strange about what Touma said, "Wait a minute! That description sounds a lot like me."

"That's true. If I would have only given anyone a description like that, they probably wouldn't know if I was talking about you or her." If Touma would have ended with that, he would have been fine. However, Touma absentmindedly stated, "Although if she were real, her breasts would probably be bigger than yours."

Konori became pissed when she heard that and stated, "WHAT?!"

Touma finally realized he made a mistake and nervously responded, "Uh well. Of course she is supposed to be a high school student in the series, so I'm sure yours will be bigger than hers would be by the time you turn sixteen."

Konori only became more irritated, "Kamijou-san! You need to pick your next words carefully. Otherwise, they could be your last." While her lips were smiling, her eyes certainly were not. She was giving a not so subtle threat to the Devil of Academy City.

Even Touma could feel the danger he was in. He was walking on extremely thin ice. Touma proceeded to get on the ground, bowed his head, and stated in an apologetic voice, "I'm very sorry for my careless words. I will reflect upon my actions." Touma added a little more emphasis to his apology. "I am really sorry!"

Konori was somewhat amused by this, "I suppose I will forgive you this time, but I would advise you not to cross that line again."

Touma stated in an obedient, "Yes ma'am!"

The tense atmosphere had dissipated as quickly as it appeared. Touma knew that he needed to be more careful of such landmines in the future. However, there was one thing Touma waned to ask his friend before they went back to 'The Strange.' "All that aside, there is something important I need to be discuss with you."

Konori asked in a curious voice, "What is it?"

"You have Esper powers don't you." What Touma said was a statement rather than a question because he figured out the answer already. He just wanted to hear it from her.

Konori was completely speechless. She had been found out despite her best efforts to hide it. She had previously told Touma a few months ago that she hit a 'wall' in her Esper development. However, Touma like most of the other Big Spider members assumed she meant that she was unable to even gain an ability despite her best efforts. Hearing such stories was common to hear from the various Level Zeroes in Academy City.

Seeing that Konori was not responding, Touma then stated, "I noticed what you did back there Konori-chan."

Konori tried to deny it, "What do you mean? I didn't do anything." However, her denial was poorly executed. No one would fall for that.

Touma figured unless explained himself this would be going nowhere. "I noticed how you were able to warn me about the concealed weapon that man hid before he tried to attack me. You may have a watchful eye, but even for someone as good as you would probably have difficulty noticing someone hiding amongst the hostages pulling out a concealed weapon."

Konori stated in a nervous voice, "I don't know what you are talking about?"

Touma firmly told her, "There is no use denying the truth. At first, I was not really sure, but the look on your face is really starting to give it away."

Konori shakily replied, "But . . ."

Touma touched Konori's shoulder and assured her, "You don't have to worry about it. Ordinarily, I wouldn't care about any secrets you might be hiding. After all, I have my own fair share of secrets, but this seems a little too important to ignore. This time I need to know the truth."

Konori nervously asked, "The truth about what specifically?"

Touma stated, "You mentioned to me you hit a hurdle in your Esper development, but you didn't go into it further than that. Before you hit that hurdle, you were still able to develop an Esper ability weren't you."

The area was silent and Konori seemed incapable of giving an answer until Touma reassured her again, "You don't have to worry. Nothing you say will be heard by Wataru or any of the other members of Big Spider I promise."

Konori seemed to trust the sincerity in Touma's voice. She admitted, "Yes I have an Esper ability."

"I thought so." Touma scratched his head, "Do you mind telling me what it is?"

Konori sighed and she told Touma, "My power is called '**Clairvoyance**,' and in the previous system check I participated in, I was a Level Two. It allows me to see through objects like one of those X-Ray scanners you see in airports. However, I felt like I hit a wall in my Esper training, and I have tried to avoid using my power ever since I joined Big Spider."

Touma asked in a curious voice, "If you don't really like using your power, why did you decide to use it today?"

Konori explained, "I thought a few things seemed strange about this incident, namely the person who was supposedly able to give the correct count of twenty individuals. I find it hard to believe that all twenty of them would have been in the same room as the hostages. If I was one of the hostages, I probably would have made a guess about the number of people holding me hostage."

Touma followed up with another question. "So you based your suspicions on how you think you would react?"

Konori backpedalled a little and tried to explain herself better. "That is partly the case. While I was suspicious about how the incident seemed to be 'resolved' relatively quickly, one of the hostages appeared to be acting a little suspicious. That's why I decided to scan his bag, and I found him pulling out that weapon."

Touma graciously stated, "Thank you for using your powers to warn me of the danger Konori-chan. That guy would have definitely got a shot at me if you didn't use your power. I am very grateful to you."

Konori asked in a voice that indicated her uncertainty. "You don't care that I have a power?"

Touma waved it off and told Konori, "Not in the least. However, I know others might not be as willing to accept you as I am, so I promise I won't tell anyone."

Konori replied, "Yes that is true. There is a lot of hatred for people with Esper abilities in Big Spider. Even I feel the same as them because most Level Twos are not really treated that much better than Level Ones or Level Zeroes."

Touma could not help but think back on the past as he replied, "Tell me about it. I can understand others might get jealous of your ability. When I lived in the Child Error facility, I met a few people who were great to be around, but they were envious of what other people in the City possessed. I didn't understand it at first, but I definitely feel like I am starting to understand now."

Konori had a feeling she did need to ask at this point, but she wanted to be certain. "So you trust me even though, I have been keeping this secret form you?"

Touma was not hurt by Konori's skepticism. He understood her position completely because he was in a position not too different from hers. "I find you more than trustworthy Konori-chan. I always believed you were a good person, and your actions today prove that. You used your power when you thought you had to, and you saved my life."

Konori scratched the back of her head. "Thanks. A part of me was worried that you would hate me because I had Esper abilities. After all, I can't imagine you have a high opinion of those who do have powers."

Touma took a deep breath and replied, "You probably would not be too wrong about that. There have been times I felt that way. However, despite everything I have gone through, I don't think Esper abilities are inherently good or bad. What makes them either one are the people who use them." Konori seemed pleasantly surprised to hear Touma say that. "We have seen plenty of Espers who abuse their abilities for their own gain or enjoyment. However, I know other Espers who are using their abilities for the good other others. I may not see them often, but I know there are plenty out there. You are an excellent example of those Espers, and you are not the first one to save my life through the use of Esper abilities either."

Konori decided not to ask any questions about that last part and merely replied with, "I see. That is good to hear you think that way."

Touma stated, "I'll be counting on you to use your power in the future too."

Konori asked, "In what way?"

Touma replied, "I'm not sure yet, but I'm sure you will find a way to use your power discretely when the time comes. It could prove to be invaluable in future operations."

Konori sheepishly responded, "I guess."

Touma told Konori in a confident voice, "In the future, I am going to trust my back to you. Will you trust your back to me?"

Konori smiled at Touma and said to him, "I always have and I always will. You can count on me."

Touma cheerfully stated, "That's good to know." He then held his hand out for Konori to shake so they could 'seal the deal.'

They shook hands and formed an unbreakable bond of trust that would continue to serve them well for the challenges that awaited them. The two of them left to return to the Big Spider's headquarters in 'The Strange.' While this story had ended, another was about to begin as a result, which would lead to plenty of other tales for the Devil in the near future.

/

After Touma and Konori left a strange electronic noise could be heard. It was coming from the fly that Touma swatted away earlier. Little did Touma know, it was a tiny machine that had been following him and Konori since they left the mall through one of the hidden exits. There were two of these machines positioned at both exits, and it followed both groups that emerged from them. It was this machine that would be able to unveil the identity of the 'Devil of Academy City.'

In an undisclosed location a fat teenage boy stated in a frustration, "Damn it. Does he realize how hard and expensive it was to make those machines? It's going to take me a week to fix that."

The fat teenager was known as, Baba Yoshio, from the underworld organization called MEMBER. He was their technology expert and preferred to have his machines do all the work rather than get his own hands dirty. Thanks to the information provided by **Tsuchimikado**, Baba knew he had to place his machines at the different exits to the underground mall if he was going to track the Devil's movements.

While his plan to follow the Devil succeeded, his fly was damaged when it got a close up on Touma's face. His machine was too badly damaged to provide additional audio or footage, so he was not able to get a visual on Konori's true appearance. "I wish I would have gotten a picture of what the girl looks like too. Damn it." After getting rid of his frustrations he said, "I guess I will just have to make do with what I have. Hopefully, that will be enough for the Professor."

The footage Baba presented was enough to meet the Professor's satisfaction. He thought to himself, _"The time to give the Devil a more proper test of his abilities will be coming soon. I hope the results will not be disappointing." _

/

**Location: Underground Mall – Aftermath of the Incident**

Yomikawa questioned a few civilians who witnessed what happened. They recounted most of the details that they could remember. They told her about how three similarly dressed individuals, two males and one female, had apparently neutralized all of the Espers. While Yomikawa was aware that the Devil apparently had a 'habit' of shooting his victims in the legs, she was a little surprised that he did it in front of the hostages. The more Yomikawa heard, the more she wished to get to the bottom of this. As she was taking their statements, she was accompanied by her fellow Anti-Skill Ichirou.

Yomikawa was an Anti-Skill that Ichirou knew that was worthy of the title of being an 'Anti-Skill' because he knew she was someone that wanted to fulfill their civil service duties. However, he knew that she was not someone that was as willing to go to the same lengths as him. The Devil had asked Ichirou to keep an eye on Yomikawa whenever he had a chance when they were in the field, and that is what he aimed to do.

Before she was done questioning the civilians she asked, "You mentioned that one of the other people who were dressed like him referred to the supposed Devil by a name. Do you remember the name the girl said?"

The civilian thought for a few moments before responding, "I think the girl said Kami, but she stopped herself midsentence. I think the name she was going to call him was longer than that, but she remembered she was not supposed to refer to him by that name."

Yomikawa thought, _"That is not really a lot to go one in terms of the name, but it would be a good thing to note. It could help in eliminating the possible list of suspects later on."_

Before Yomikawa could as another question, Ichirou decided to ask,"Do you remember any physical attributes about these individuals that you can give me about any of these individuals?"

The civilian thought about it as much as he could and responded, "They were all wearing masks, but I did see some of their hair, and I did notice a few other aspects I could identify."

As the civilian was giving the best description he could, Ichirou did the best he could not seem relived by what he was hearing. He thought to himself, _"Well it would appear that the disguises that Konori, Wataru, and the Devil wore in tandem with their masks has helped prevent others from being able to notice their true physical characteristics besides their height._

/

After Yomikawa and Ichirou were done questioning the civilians, they decided to go pay the security guards a visit. The Anti-Skill found them all locked in the closet. They had recently regained consciousness, and they were ready to be questioned.

While they were walking to the security room Ichirou asked Yomikawa, "By the way, whose transporting those gang members we arrested earlier."

Yomikawa responded, "Gaku is transporting the prisoners. For some reason he seemed rather pretty eager to do it."

Ichirou gave his input, "I guess he must have wanted to make sure those gang members get what's coming to them as much as we do."

Yomikawa replied with a rather troubled voice, "That might be the case. However, there is one thing that I am not too sure about."

Ichirou asked, "What would that be?"

Yomikawa was a little hesitant to answer, but she told him, "A few of the people that were imprisoned are well known gang members that I have dealt with before. However, I know for a fact that none of them ever had any known Esper abilities before."

Even though Ichirou already knew that was the case, he did a convincing job pretending to be surprised. "Are you sure about that?"

Yomikawa believed Ichirou's act as she told him, "Yes. I find that to be disturbing."

Ichirou thought to himself, _"I don't think it would be any trouble to the Big Spider if the Anti-Skill were to 'officially' learn about 'Beta-Zero's' existence."_ Ichirou decided to tell Yomikawa, "Maybe this means we should have all of them go through a DNA examination after they arrive at the hospitals."

Yomikawa replied, "I was actually planning on doing something along those lines."

Ichirou smiled a little as he stated, "I guess great minds think alike."

Yomikawa remarked, "So it would seem." As they continued walking, she decided it would be best to ask Ichirou with a concerned voice, "How has your eye been healing Ichirou?"

Ichirou was surprised by Yomikawa's question. There were times when he almost forgot that he was wearing an eye patch on his left eye as he had become so used to wearing it. He told his colleague, "It will be fine Yomikawa-san. However, it will still take a number of months before I can really see out of it again. Until that happens, I will be sticking to the eye patch. Thanks for your concern."

Yomikawa merely replied, "Just making sure a colleague is okay."

Ichirou stated in a gracious tone, "I appreciate it though."

/

Shortly after they arrived at the security office, Yomikawa began questioning one of the security guard, "So there are no records regarding what just happened here?"

The security guard shamefully admitted, "I was knocked unconscious, so I missed what happened. As you can see here, it would appear that all of the video cameras were disabled during the time of the incident, and any footage prior to and shortly after the incident was deleted. There are no finger prints, so we have no way of identifying who was messing around with the system while my fellow workers and I were unconscious."

Yomikawa replied, "I see. In that case, do you know anything about the man how knocked you unconscious?"

The security guard answered, "I barely got a good look at him. After he entered the room, he attacked me almost instantly. However, I think he had a long scar on the left side of his face and silver hair, but that is all I can remember."

Yomikawa was pleased that she might actually have a useful lead as she stated, "That might prove to be helpful. Do you think if I were to show pictures of potential suspects that fit that description, would you be able to identify him?"

The security guard stated in an uncertain voice, "Maybe. I'm not really sure."

"_Something tells me that I will probably have my work cut out for me based on that response." _Yomikawa began was wracking her braining trying to come up with something that she could ask that might be helpful. The only thing she could come up with was a generic question. "About the security systems being disabled, do you have anything else that you could tell us about that?"

"Well the mall's security system he is extremely advanced." The security guard explained, "For someone to be able to shut it down and reboot it according to his or her commands would require great skills."

The man's answer did help provide a little bit of a clue in Yomikawa's investigation. She asked the security officer a few more questions before ending her interrogation for the time being. Afterwards, she decided to speak to Ichirou in private and told him, "This Devil must have ties with some interesting individuals."

Ichirou asked in a suspicious tone, "What kind of 'interesting individuals are we talking about here?"

Yomikawa told him a in a whispering voice, "We are talking about the type of interesting people that are capable of shutting a security system like that and reboot it without leaving a trace. I am talking about someone who might be an engineer or was able to get his hands on the schematics to similar types of programs."

Even though, Ichirou had always been able to keep the truth to himself ever since he joined Big Spider, his eyes would have betrayed him if Yomikawa would have been in a position to see them. For once Ichirou was glad that his left eye had an eye patch. From the angle he was standing, Yomikawa would only be able to see the left side of his face, and she could not see the visible reaction of his right eye. If Yomikawa did see, she may have become suspicious of him.

Ichirou tried to calm himself down by thinking, _"It sounds like even though Jiro covered his tracks, he might have done that a little too well. That alone might be enough to make Yomikawa-san suspicious of someone with his capabilities. However, even if she learns about him and suspects his involvement, she will still lack evidence and the means to find him. Either way, it would be smart for me to inform Wataru of this when I have the chance."_

Before Ichirou could think of something to say, he was interrupted by a call he received on his Anti-Skill communicator. Yomikawa received a call on hers as well. When the two of them responded to their calls, the two of them heard some relatively upsetting news. Based on their facial expression, they both found the news to be quite disturbing.

/

All twenty-one of the Devil Representatives were restrained by the Anti-Skill before they regained consciousness, and they were brought to the Anti-Skill's transport bus. On the transport bus, each one of the Devil's Representatives were held up in a different 'compartment.' In these compartments, the Espers were incapable of talking to each other or using their abilities. There would be no escape for any of them.

Similar to the other victims of the Devil, most of them would be receiving medical treatment before being sent to the appropriate detention facilities. That was the official plan anyway. Unfortunately for them, they would not be reaching any detention facility. Not before receiving a rather unwanted visit from a certain individual.

While the Devil's Representatives were loaded onto the transport bus, an Anti-Skill with long orange hair entered the bus with them as well. After the bus was a distance away from the mall, she approached the 'compartment' that contained Takaya. Before she had a chance to take off her helmet, Takaya knew exactly who this person was. He asked in an impatient voice, "What are you doing here Therestina?"

She replied in a kind voice that most people would believe was sincere. "Well I heard that your confrontation with the Devil didn't go so well despite the powers you had. I was worried about your injuries."

Takaya angrily replied, "You can cut the bull crap Therestina. I know you just want to know whether or not I told the Devil anything thing."

"Oh. I'm glad you know me so well." Suddenly there was shift in Therestina's facial expression and her eyes changed from being something that appeared kind and sincere to something that could be described as demonic and psychotic. She was the embodiment of someone who was 'two faced.' Her voice also changed from sounding sweet to poisonous. "Then I will cut to the chase. What did you tell the Devil about me?"

Takaya was somewhat frightened of this woman, but he did his best not to give her the satisfaction of seeing it as he put up a strong front. "I didn't tell him anything about you specifically. Other than the fact, I was given these powers by a group of scientists."

Therestina replied in a 'skeptical' voice, "Is that so?"

Takaya stuck to his story. "That's right. He has no idea who you are. The Devil stated he was running out of time before he shot me. He knew the Anti-Skills would be arriving soon, and it would have been difficult to carry me or any of the others for questioning and escape."

Therestina seemed to believe what he was telling her, "Then you have my thanks for being such a good boy."

Takaya asked her in a hopeful voice, "Are you saying that you plan on freeing us?"

Therestina replied with a smile that was not a smile anyone would want to see. It belonged to that of a serial killer who was getting high off killing his victims. She stated, "Not quite, but I do not plan on letting you go to prison."

Takaya nervously asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Therestina casually told Takaya, "I'm saying this is the end of the road for you."

Takaya was becoming more horrified by the moment, "You can't mean . . . you're not saying."

Therestina interrupted Takaya with, "Before you go, I just wanted to thank you and your friends for being such good test subjects. However, I no longer have use for you."

Takaya replied with a mixture of anger and fright, "You're just going to murder us all then?!"

Therestina answered, "I wouldn't really call it murder. After all, you test subjects were almost out of time anyway. It was only a matter of a week or so at most before you would end up dead on the streets anyway." Takaya was completely confused by what Therestina was saying as she pulled out her device. "Regardless it is no longer necessary to keep any of you alive, so the time to end it has come."

As Therestina was about to press the button, Takaya pleaded with Therestina, "Please don't do it!" However, his pleas fell on deaf ears.

After she pressed the button, it would be best not to describe what happened next. While it could not be heard outside of the transport vehicle, the inside was filled with anguished cries of pain. Within a few minutes, Therestina was smiling at the sight of twenty-one fresh corpses. Their bodies were shriveled up with blood pouring out of their eyes, ears, and mouths.

She was filled with pride as she thought, _"Seeing the results of my work is always entertaining to watch. I can't wait to see what will happen with the next batch."_

The driver of the bus pulled his window and asked, "Are you done back there yet?" The bus driver was an Anti-Skill by the name of **Hayashi Gaku**.

Therestina replied in a 'joyful' voice, "Yes I am. Everything went quite well. I don't think we will need to worry about this unneeded loose end anymore."

"That is good to hear." Gaku was clearly nervous talking to this person. He tried to keep it to himself, but it was difficult to do so with someone like Therestina behind him. Gaku asked her, "So what now?"

Therestina gave her instruction to her accomplice, "Now you are going to stop this transport, so I can get off. Then you will continue driving until a mutual friend of ours attacks this bus that will 'kill' all the prisoners and leave you as a sole survivor. That way the evidence will be destroyed and your reputation will not be sullied."

Gaku graciously told her, "Thank you Therestina-san."

Therestina replied in a casual manner, "Well they say you should treat your assets well."

"I appreciate that." He then nervously asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Therestina asked Gaku in an inquisitive voice, "You mentioned to me the other day that you believe the Devil has recruited an Anti-Skill correct?"

Gaku responded in a nervous but certain voice, "Yes. I'm sure of it."

Therestina proceeded to give Gaku some rather stern orders. "I want you to keep an ear out for any possible leads and see if you can identify him or her."

Gaku asked, "What would you have me do if I succeeded in finding out the identity?"

Therestina replied in a voice that revealed more of her sadistic side, "I'm sure I will think of something. Although you can be sure it will be most unpleasant."

Afterwards, Therestina proceeded to leave the Anti-Skill prison transport bus. As planned, there was a most 'unfortunate incident' that claimed the 'lives' of the Devil's Representatives. The attack proceeded to destroy any traces of their very existences. The only one who was left 'alive' after this attack was a shaken Hayashi Gaku.

/

Shortly after Therestina's departure, the bus arrived at the designated location where the back of the bus that contained all the 'prisoners' was attacked by a powerful 'ray of light.' It seemed like a 'ray of light,' but it was really an energy beam. The destructive force of this energy beam was enough to completely obliterate the area that the bodies for the Devil's Representatives were on, and there was little trace of their bodies after several more energy beams were fired.

The culprit who was firing these energy blasts was none other than Jūhō, who was affiliated with the underground group Member. Jūhō was given specific instructions to not get the bus driver killed and only attack the back area where the criminals were being transported. He did as he was told, and he made sure that the bus driver would be the only survivor of this attack. Even if Jūhō was not given that instruction, he would not have killed the bus driver anyway because as far as Jūhō knew, the bus driver was nothing more than a simple Anti-Skill who was doing his job. Jūhō was not aware that the bus driver was in fact anything but an honest Anti-Skill

After Jūhō had completed his job, he was filled with pride as he thought to himself, _"Another batch of despicable scum has been sent to hell."_

Little did Jūhō know that the criminals he sent to hell were already dead, and all he was doing was wiping out the evidence of Beta-Zero. He had been given this job earlier by the Professor, and he was surprised that the Professor was telling him to complete a job for Kiharas. However, even though Jūhō knew that Professor did not particularly like the Kiharas, the Professor was more than willing to accept their money because there were people within Academy City's walls that he hated even more. Jūhō knew the individuals that the Professor wished to crush, and if accepting this job could help give the Professor the means to crush his enemies, he would fulfill the job for his employer's sake.

/

Therestina witnessed the Jūhō's little show from a distance. She believed that it was quite a spectacle. As she was witnessing this, she smugly thought, _"The Professor's prized lackey certainly can come in handy for a job such as this. Even if people are able to identify him, it will still take a long time for anyone to ever find out there was a connection that ties me to this."_

After witnessing the incident, Therestina was not sure what was more entertaining. Was it seeing most evidence being conveniently destroyed while the rest of it can simply be 'cleaned up' or the fact that she would be able to start the process all over again when the time was right? She really could not answer that question.

As she was witnessing the destruction, she thought to herself, _"According to the reports, they only found eighteen communicators on those useless idiots. I suppose that means a few of them were confiscated by the Devil and his friends." _She scratched her chin as she thought, _"I wonder if they will attempt to use them to find out where they were made. If that was the case, it might be possible for the Devil to make some progress in finding me."_

Therestina was somewhat nervous about the possibility of the Devil finding her. The recent incident proved that the Big Spider was not the two-bit organization she always considered it to be, so the possibility of the Devil eventually learning who she was seemed plausible. She knew that if the Devil was able to find her, he would do everything in his power to make sure she paid for the role she played in ruining his life. Ordinarily, she would use some of the means at her disposal to eliminate the problem or at the very least toy with him before killing him. However, Therestina was instructed that she could not do anything directly to kill the Devil, but that did give her an 'alternative' idea that did not violate any promises.

She thought to herself, _"I suppose it is time for me to do some 'indirect' recruiting. I'm sure Grandfather won't mind. After all, he enjoys the idea of the Devil being tested, and if I'm successful that will be a test that I'm sure he will greatly enjoy. If the Devil fails the test, he will be dead. Either way, there will be no consequences for me."_

Therestina could not help but smugly smile and laugh to herself. At this point, she was nearly untouchable, and she was going to ensure that she remained that way.

/

Little did Therestina know that everything that happened was recorded by a certain freelance spy who went by the name **Tsuchimikado Monoharu**. When he knocked one of the Espers out earlier, not only did he acquire the blood sample that was requested of him, but he placed a tracking/recording device on the Esper. He heard everything that Theristina said to Takaya and the others.

Tsuchimikadothought to himself in disgust, _"That is one cold-hearted bitch. She must be the true 'devil incarnate.' I wonder what will happen if she and the Devil ever have a chance to meet in person. Something tells me that Kami-yan would want to give her more punishment than any of the other victims he sent to the hospital."_

He held the recording in his hand uncertain of what he should do with it. Normally, he would find a way to sell it, but this bit of information felt like it could be useful for something a little more important. Instead of making a decision right away, Tsuchimikado decided to place it in his pocket for the time being. He could come up with an idea for it at a later time.

Tsuchimikado also thought to himself, _"I feel pretty tempted to give this to Kami-yan. This woman is one piece of scum that Academy City can definitely do without, and I'm sure there are plenty of Kiharas who can easily take her place. Unfortunately, there are rules I need to abide by for the time being. In the meantime, I will hold onto this recording until I can start bending the rules a little. After all, if I don't start finding ways to bend them, I will remain in this position for the rest of my life, and I will never win this game."_

/

**Location: Family Restaurant**

While various students of Academy City, along with a fair number of adults, were enjoying their meals in peace, there was one scientist with messy brown hair and dark rings under her eyes who appeared to be waiting for someone as she ate her food. A few minutes later Tsuchimikado Monoharu arrived. He immediately took the seat across from her, so they could take care of business.

Tsuchimikado asked his client in a playful voice, "Did I make you wait too long Harumi Kiyama?"

The person that he referred to as Harumi Kiyama ignored his question and asked, "Did you acquire the blood sample I requested?"

Tsuchimikado took out the container and told her, "It was a piece of cake to obtain it. I should thank the Devil for helping make things easy for me."

As soon as the woman opened the container to verify its contents she stated, "As promised, your account will be given the other half of the payment I promised." She took out her phone after hitting a few buttons she said, "The money has been transferred. It is in the account you designated."

Tsuchimikado took out his own phone and confirmed, "Everything has been accounted for. It's been a pleasure doing business for you."

Harumi responded, "The pleasure has been all mine. This blood sample will allow me to find out what allows an Esper to be able to gain abilities he or she does not wield."

Tsuchimikado hesitated for a moment before telling her, "If you are going to study that blood as thoroughly as I think you are, you should keep an eye out for another answer as well."

Harumi eyed Tsuchimikado curiously as she asked, "Did you learn something of interest during your mission?"

Tsuchimikado was still hesitant to explain, but he ultimately decided to tell her, "In a manner of speaking, I did. I have a feeling you will probably find out the reason why it is apparently lethal to anyone who is injected with Beta-Zero."

Harumi was surprised to hear this part. "Lethal?"

Tsuchimikado explained, "I slipped a device on one that I took the blood sample from. You may have heard on the news reports that they all died when their transport van was destroyed, but they were dead before that happened. The explosion was not meant to erase all the evidence."

That part did not surprise Harumi at all since she had seen what the darkness of Academy City was capable of in the past. It had cost her something most dear to her. She replied in a voice that bordered between apathetic and emotionless. "I see. If that is the case, I'm surprised you did not charge me more money for this information. Is there a catch to you giving me this information?"

Tsuchimikado was unfazed by this question since his profession caused his clients to become understandably skeptical of his truthiness. "Not this time. The money you paid me was more than substantial, so I decided to give you a little extra as a parting gift." Tsuchimikado proceeded to get up, and he told her, "If you have any other tasks for me, you know how to contact me. Just be ready to provide the agreed amount of payment, and there will be no issues."

Harumi told Tsuchimikado, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. You can expect to receive a call from me relatively soon, and money will not be a problem."

Tsuchimikado gave a smirk as he replied, "I didn't think so." He proceeded to leave the restaurant. As he was leaving he thought to himself, _"Perhaps this is one way to start bending the rules a little."_

The woman thought to herself, _"In that case, I will need to find some alternative methods too after I find the key in this sample. I'm sure this blood sample can provide me a foundation. After that, I'm sure I will know what I will need to do next. I'm going to need to if I'm ever going to save them."_

Her thoughts were interrupted when one of the waitresses accidently knocked her drink and stained her clothing. The waitress immediately apologized, "I'm so sorry about that ma'am."

Harumi lazily accepted the apology and replied, "It's not a problem. I was feeling too hot anyway." She proceeded to unbutton her shirt.

Upon seeing this, the waitress said, "Uh ma'am. What are you doing?"

She did not need to receive an answer to that question because Harumi was taking off her shirt. Needless to say, she received quite a few interested glances as the waitress attempted to convince her not to strip in public. For as brilliant as this scientist was, she was not one that had a lot of common sense.

/

**Location – Office of Therestina 'Kihara' Lifeline**

In the aftermath of the Devil and the Big Spider defeating the mercenaries claiming to the 'Devil's Representatives,' Therestina was having a meeting with an unknown woman. The woman had asked for an immediate audience with Therestina, and Therestina was more than flexible to make room in her schedule. After all, the woman that Therestina was meeting was an 'influential' member within the darkness of Academy City. She went by the name of **Tachibana Fuyu**. This individual was one Academy City's twelve Board of Directors, and she was the backer for the Level Five known as Mugino Shizuri.

Similar to a majority of the Board of Directors, Fuyu had darker ambitions that she wished to fulfill, and she would be happy to do anything necessary to fulfill them. As far as she was concerned, she already made a deal with an almost literal Devil to reach this point. Fuyu figured that making anymore 'deals' would not have any lasting effects on her. This was one of the characteristics that Therestina liked about this woman because they both wished to obtain the ideal result regardless of the cost.

At the beginning of their meeting, Fuyu commented, "It would appear that your 'mercenary group,' was defeated by the Devil and his Skill-Out lackeys."

Therestina casually responded, "That is of little consequence to me. They were merely guinea pigs for further experiments, and their time was drawing to an end anyway. Being disposed of by that brat only sped up the process of their deaths."

Fuyu responded, "It has also come to my attention that the Devil is far from being the only one that has had his fair share of dealings with your Beta-Zero test subjects."

While Therestina was neither upset nor surprised, she asked, "How exactly did this come to your attention in the first place?"

Fuyu chuckled a little and replied, "You should probably know there are a fair number of people who are aware of the truth behind the Child Error facility incident. I am also aware there are a few Child Errors who were trained by one of your former scientists, **Narukami Souji**, who you allowed to be killed during that incident. Their powers enabled them to escape from that massacre, and I hear that they have been causing a few nuisances for you lately."

Hearing that did agitate Therestina to an extent, but she was able to mask her distaste. She replied, "They have not done anything too major. They have had a few skirmishes with our Beta-Zero test subjects but nothing more. All of them will eventually be squatted away like the insects they are."

Fuyu skeptically asked, "Is that so?"

Therestina stated with confidence in her voice, "Quite. Their efforts will appear meager in the end once we have disposed of them. They will be joining their fellow Child Errors soon enough."

Fuyu still seemed skeptical, but she decided to change the subject, "In any case, there is something I would wish to speak to you. It is about the real reason why I have asked to arrange this meeting."

Therestina merely responded, "I'm listening."

Fuyu's voice became much more serious as she stated, "Due to the Devil's recent victory over your mercenary group, he has managed to prove himself to be quite the spectacle. Numerous witnesses are spreading the word of his exploits and the popularity of his urban legend is skyrocketing. While it is clear the Anti-Skill would wish to arrest him, a rather large portion of the population in Academy City would not want that to happen. However, most importantly, I believe that his victory presents an opportunity that I have been hoping for."

What Fuyu had said piqued Therestina's interest as she inquired further, "An opportunity you say? Would it have anything to do with your Level Five Mugino Shizuri?" Therestina thought to herself, _"It looks like I will not need to conduct any of the 'indirect' recruiting myself. They came to me instead."_

Fuyu responded with a smile, "Correct. I have been hoping the Level Five I sponsor would finally join this team I have been attempting to form. It has been rather difficult to create the team in the first place, but I finally found suitable members. I believe having those three as her teammates would make her a more efficient and manageable asset. It's just unfortunate that she can be so needlessly stubborn sometimes. She will need a little extra motivation to start seeing things from my perspective."

Therestina put her right hand to her chin and asked in an interested voice, "Are you telling me that you're hoping she will lose, so she will start to do things your way?"

Fuyu grinned as she responded, "I never said anything like that at all. However, Mugino has told me she wishes to face a challenge, and since she is currently the third most powerful Esper in Academy City, finding an appropriate challenge has been difficult."

Therestina remarked, "According to one my contacts, it might not be too long until your Level Five is downgraded from her position as the 'third' greatest Level Five."

Fuya nodded, "Indeed those sources may very well be true. However, that is not the issue at this point. Even when this new Esper makes an appearance, Mugino will still want more potential challenges, and she sees the Devil as one of them. I am aware that Mugino has been paying close attention to the rumors surrounding the Devil, and she has been more than interested in putting them to the test. I have a feeling she will be most pleased if she knows she will have a one-on-one battle with the Devil himself."

Therestina stated, "Although you can't deny if she were to be defeated in one-on-one combat, it could present you with an ideal opportunity to begin this team you want her to become a part of correct?"

Fuyu then casually responded, "I think it would be reasonable to assume if Mugino were to lose, she would be more open to the idea of willingly becoming a member. Not to mention having her and those other three would make them easier to control if they are constantly together rather than being separate. Their usefulness to us would increase tenfold. Additionally, Mugino would probably be willing to accept my certain accessories, such as these cards, I would be willing to provide her in exchange for her loyalty and willingness."

The cards that Fuyu held in her hand were known as '**silicon** **cards**.' This would come in handy for Mugino because while Mugino is capable of firing up to four blasts at once, her ability can only be used on one target at a time. However, if Mugino were to use these cards, it would allow her to disperse her individual laser blasts into multiple attacks allowing for a wider range of destruction. Up until now, Mugino refused to accept anything from this woman in order to not feel indebted to her. However, if Mugino were to begin feeling her limitations, she may feel more inclined to begin accepting 'assistance.'

Therestina then stated in a voice that had a slight hint of venom, "I like the way you think. In that case, be sure to tell her to go all out and killing the Devil will not be a problem."

While Fuyu appreciated Theristina's cooperation, her willingness to let the Devil die caught her off guard. She said in a surprised voice, "I thought the Devil was supposed to become an important test subject."

Therestina justified it, "A test subject like him would be pointless if the most powerful Espers go easy on him. If he wins because his opponents fight him half-assed, it will not matter at all. As far as I would be concerned, he would be better off dead."

That was reasoning that Fuyu did not have any arguments against as she stated, "In that case, I will be happy to oblige."

Therestina held out her hand, "Hopefully, the final results will be favorable for the both of us."

Fuyu accepted Therestina's gesture and shook her hand, "Indeed."

The deal between the mad scientist and one of the Board of Directors had been finalized. It was a deal that would have long reaching consequences, and it would shape the futures of many. Not everyone would benefit from the final result. The Darkness of Academy City's grip would only become stronger overtime.

/

**Location: MEMBER Headquarters – Lounge Area**

Even an underground organization that operated in the darkness of Academy City needed to have a 'lounge area' for its subordinates. It would be difficult to keep some of the members motivated if they did not have a place for its members to relax. Additionally, having such areas allowed for teammates to converse with each other. The two current occupants in the lounge area were Jūhō and Michiko. As promised, the two of them were going to continue the conversation they had earlier in the alleyway. However, there was something Jūhō wanted to ask Michiko first.

Jūhō asked, "Before we continue where we left off the other day Michiko, I have something I wish to ask you about."

Michiko voice indicated that she did not seem to mind Jūhō asking her about another topic as she responded, "What is it?"

Jūhō was rather curious about this topic, "I remember you mentioning to me that you were once a part of another group before I found you and recruited you to MEMBER. Could you tell me more about it?"

Michiko was surprised at the question. Her look of surprise quickly changed to an uneasy face. Apparently, the very thought of her old group gave her a bad feeling in her stomach. She asked, "Why are you so curious about that?"

While Jūhō could see she was uneasy, he decided to explain why he was interested. "It has been something I have been thinking about for a while now. However, I wasn't certain if you would be comfortable with answering until after sometime had passed. Since it has been nearly a year since you joined MEMBER, I was thinking that perhaps it would be okay to ask you about it."

Michiko inwardly blushed at Jūhō's words as she replied, "Well that was considerate of you. You really didn't have to worry about it that much. Its true I would have felt uncomfortable at first, but you didn't need to wait a year before asking me."

Jūhō replied, "In any case, do you mind telling me some information about them? Before I met you, I thought the only real things I needed to know was life within the darkness of Academy City. However, everything you have told me has shown me that there is much more hidden out there. I can't help but wonder how a group in this 'magic world' of yours is. I remember you mentioning their name was Amakusa right?"

Michiko smiled a little at the fact Jūhō remembered something that she mentioned to him offhandedly a while back. "I see you have a good memory. That was the short version of what our organization is called. The longer version is Amakusa-Style Remix of Church."

After hearing the full name, Jūhō stated, "That's a pretty weird name."

Michiko replied in a deadpan voice, "You don't think MEMBER is a weird name?"

Jūhō shrugged, "Touche."

Michiko continued her story, "Anyway, the name didn't seem like a weird name to me at the time. However, when I think about from an outside perspective, they probably could have thought of a better name. The organization was a Christian sect based in Japan. All of the members including myself have abilities in both magic and fighting. Everyone had their own trademark weapons. As you can see, the weapon I choose was the **Yari**."

A Yari is a type of Japanese spear that somewhat resembles a trident with one long middle blade and two small blades protruding on the side. Similar to most Amakusa members, Michiko made sure that her spear could be disassembled into multiple pieces which made it easier for her to transport. She usually carried it in a blue bag that she normally had on her person at almost all times. To Michiko, her weapon was her life, but she now saw someone that was more precious to her than her life.

Jūhō commented, "I have seen the way you use that thing. Your organization must have put you through some training."

Michiko casually stated, "They did. We had training regiments to keep on a daily basis. I memorized them all, so I don't have any problem maintaining that even though I long since left the Amasuka."

Even though she could not see it underneath his helmet and mask, Jūhō's face indicated he wanted to know more. He asked in a curious tone, "Do you ever miss the group and the friends you left behind?"

Michiko was silent for a few moments before finally stating, "There are times when I do, but whenever I think about my organization, I just can't help but feel frustrated by them and the organization as a whole."

Jūhō asked, "What do you mean?"

Michiko answered, "Our former leader went by the name, Kanzaki Kaori, who was blessed with the abilities of a **Saint**."

Jūhō said in a confused voice, "A Saint?" Even though he knew what 'Saints' were supposed to be, but he had a feeling it this was not what he was thinking. "I have a feeling you are not talking about the traditional kind of Saint."

Michiko shook her head, "No I'm not. A Saint is an individual that is blessed with a stigma, and granted extraordinary powers from birth. There are apparently less than twenty in the world."

Jūhō asked in a voice that indicated he was intrigued, "They are born with great powers?"

Michiko nodded, "That is correct."

Jūhō asked in a curious voice, "So they are something like the magic world equivalent to **Gemstones**?"

Gemstones are Espers who did not require the artificial method, such as Academy City's Power Curriculum Program, to obtain their abilities. They were born with their abilities, and they emit large amounts of "An Involuntary Movements" from their bodies. Apparently, they are approximately fifty of them throughout the world. One of the Gemstones is Sogiita Gunha, who is also one of Academy City's Level Fives.

Michiko answered Jūhō's question with, "You could think of them as something like that. However, it comes to my understanding that not all of the Gemstones are consistently powerful."

Jūhō responded, "That would be the case. Other than Sogiita Gunha, who is one of Academy City's Level Fives, I have not heard of any other Gemstones that come close to his power."

Michiko explained, "Well in the case of the Saints, they are consistently powerful individuals that you do not want to trifle with. I saw Kaori singlehandedly slay monsters when she was fifteen years old that had slain a number of magicians who were grown men over twice her age. Now that she is sixteen, I have no doubt that her powers are even greater now."

After putting two and two together, Jūhō asked, "Was it this Kaori that caused the frustration you feel towards your former people?"

Michiko's voice became bitter as she told him her story, "Yes she was. Over a year ago, she left us behind because she declared that we were not strong enough. I will admit that I would probably never come close to measuring up to her even if I were to practice magic for twenty years. However, I still found her actions despicable. She was our leader, but she so readily decided to abandon us. The other members of our group may have been more understanding and forgiving, but I just can't accept it at all. That's why I broke off all ties with them and never looked back."

Jūhō remarked, "It must have been tough for you to do that."

Michiko did not seem as bothered by it as Jūhō thought she would be. "It was at first, but I considered it as something like 'taking off a band-aid.' The fact I did it quickly made everything easier. Sure one of the younger girls tried to convince me to stay, but I told her my mind was made up. Afterwards, I just kept going from place to place using my powers to heal people when necessary. It's just unfortunate that my ability to heal people without the need for physical medical supplies is what led to my kidnapping and you finding me."

Jūhō shrugged as he humbly told her, "You can thank the Professor for informing me. While I would have wanted to save someone who was being held captive, I never would have been able to find the facility you were contained in without their technology and feedback."

Michiko replied, "While I am grateful to the Professor for the role he played, you are the one that saved my life. I will always appreciate it that."

After Michiko said that, a few moments of silence went by between the two of them. Out of nowhere, Jūhō asked Michiko, "Do you feel satisfied with working with MEMBER?"

Michiko asked in a surprised voice, "What do you mean?"

Jūhō explained in a serious manner, "I am not going to deny it. We are using your powers for our own purposes too. We might not be going in the same direction as what that facility was going to do to you, but we are still using you. Are you really fine with that?"

Michiko nodded, "Yes I am. I am grateful to be of use to someone. I'm also glad that as long as I am capable of using these abilities, I don't have to worry about being abandoned by my leader or by you."

Jūhō stated in a somewhat ominous voice, "If that is the case, you should consider yourself grateful that of all the scientists that you could have had an encounter with, it was the Professor, who you met with rather than the Kihara's."

Michiko asked, "Who are the Kiharas?"

It was Jūhō's turn to explain something to Michiko, and he was a little happy that the ball was in his court now. "They are a family of scientists that are responsible for a number of behind the scenes experimentations that happen throughout Academy City. They are valued greatly due to their intellect and the contributions they have made in advancing Academy City. Unfortunately, there seems to be quite a number of character flaws that run throughout that family."

Michiko asked in a confused voice, "Character flaws? What character flaws could those be?"

Jūhō further explained, "Apparently, for the sake of obtaining an 'ideal result' from their experiments and research, they are willing to pay any price. It does not matter who they hurt in the process. From my understanding, they have even experiment on their own family members in the hopes of making progress. The information I have is only second-hand, so I am not sure of it myself, but the things they have supposedly done make anything the Professor has done seem kind and merciful by comparison."

Michiko inquired, "So you work for the Professor because you consider him a lesser of two evils?"

Jūhō responded, "That would be one reason, but despite that, I still did a job for the Kihara's a few days ago."

Michiko was surprised by what Jūhō had said because that seemed to contradict everything he told her. "Why would you do that?"

Jūhō casually replied, "The Professor told me that they were going to provide us with more than adequate compensation. When it comes to this world, you should not always turn down business opportunities unless you are absolutely certain. According to the Professor, there are other threats in Academy City that are a much higher priority than the Kiharas and at the very least we can conduct business with them that can further our position to take down those great enemies."

Michiko seemed to understand the reasoning. "I see. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised there are lot of threats that would live in Academy City after everything I have seen."

Jūhō then told her, "It would be for the best to remember that. Otherwise, you may get yourself killed if you are not careful. Anyway, while working for the Professor is certainly one of the lesser evils, I do have my other reasons to work with him."

Michiko decided to inquire further, "What other reasons could they be?"

Jūhō told her, "Well it is kind of a long story."

"I don't mind. I would be happy to listen." Jūhō could see in Michiko's eyes that she was sincere with her words.

After taking a breath, Jūhō decided to begin his story, "Okay then. It started a few years ago after I . . ." However, Jūhō was interrupted by the loudspeaker.

The voice of their leader, the Professor stated, "Sorry to interrupt your little conversation, but I have a new assignment for the two of you. I need you to report to me immediately."

Michiko stated in frustration, "I swear. Everything we are about to talk about something important, we are always getting interrupted aren't we." She then stated, "Don't think I'm going to forget what you were about to tell me. You are going to continue the story after we get back."

Jūhō assured her, "I wouldn't dream about backing down now."

As the Professor saw that Jūhō was approaching his office through his security cameras, he could not help but think to himself, _"This assignment will be the most important one I will ever assign you _Jūhō. _I certainly hope you will be up to the task. It will be utterly disappointing if you were to fail."_

/

**Location: Several miles away from the Big Spider Headquarters**

A week had passed since Touma and his friends put an end to the Devi's Representatives. He gave the communications devices to Jiro to see if he could learn anything about them to find out who could have made them. While detective type work was not exactly Jiro's specialty, his engineering skills could prove useful in figuring out who might have been the supplier. While he was doing that Touma decided it would be for the best to continue going on his 'runs.' After all, doing something like that was better than waiting around.

For this particular run, Touma decided to bring along Kyuzo after Wataru had encouraged him to do so. Despite Kyuzo's personality being more of a loner than he was or usually having a stoic demeanor, Kyuzo proved to be a cooperative teammate. According to Jiro, Kyuzo was capable of showing emotion, but the usual one that he displayed would be annoyance if any.

As Kyuzo and Touma were walking back to the Big Spider headquarters, Touma decided to break the uncomfortable silence. "Hey Kyuzo, Wataru has told me that the two of us have quite a bit incommon."

Kyuzo responded, "How so?"

Touma explained, "Until recently, I did not really interact with any of the other members of Big Spider, and I kept to myself. The only people that I spoke to were on a regular basis Wataru, Konori, or Komaba. I also heard that both Komaba and Wataru are the ones that recruited you to Big Spider just like with me."

Kyuzo did not have much of a reaction beyond stating, "I see. I suppose we do have a few things in common. However, the circumstances of our recruitment were rather different."

Touma did not respond to that. He remained silent as Kyuzo provided some information on his past. "Before I met Wataru, I once did some work that I was not particularly proud of. When I finally had enough, I made a break for it. However, in that line of work, you don't just hand in a resignation. When I was making my escape, I received a scar on my cheek." Kyuzo pointed at the long scar on the left side of his face. "I should consider myself lucky for that wound because it is a proud reminder of the fact I decided to become my own man. The other wounds on my body are nothing more than reminders of the man I used to be or rather the monster I used to be."

Touma thought to himself, _"That explains why he generally isn't the type of person to talk about things. I can hardly imagine what he must have gone through."_

As Touma and Kyuzo were walking back to 'The Strange' a figure appeared in front of them wearing full body armor. He stated, "I think you are going a little far by calling the work that you used to do as 'monstrous.' After all, there are worse forms of employment out there."

While Touma's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of this new individual, Kyuzo did not seem surprised to see this person in the least. It was as if he expected to meet this individual. He responded in a voice that had no indication of fear, "Did the Professor tell you to collect my head Jūhō?"

Jūhō responded, "Don't worry. I'm not here for you. I will admit that fighting you would probably be more entertaining than any of that trash I have had to fight recently, but that would mean I have to kill you. Killing you is something I would rather not do. Besides, the Professor has long since lost interest in the idea of eliminating you Kyuzo. As far as he is concerned, you are more valuable alive on the outside because you are still capable of damaging his competition even without him giving the directions."

Kyuzo asked in an impatient tone, "Then what are you here for? Do you want to reminisce about the past? Do you want me to remind you what your real name is?"

Jūhō sarcastically responded, "As interested as I would be in that, I am here for Kamijou Touma." He turned to Touma and asked, "Would you rather me refer to you by your name or your title, 'Devil of Academy City?'"

While Touma's eyes opened up wide with a mixture of surprise and terror, Kyuzo did not bat and eyelash at the fact Jūhō somehow knew the truth. After being in the darkness of Academy City for so long, he knew that there was always a way for those that resided within it to know the truth of Academy City and not what the Board of Directors wants the public to believe.

The Jūhō stated, "You are the 'Devil of Academy City' correct?" He may have phrased it as a question, but he said it more like a statement.

Touma asked in a demanding voice, "How the hell do you know that?"

Jūhō casually explained, "You should understand where you operate. When you involve yourself in this area of Academy City, it is difficult to keep anything a secret. There are always ways for things to get out."

Touma stated, "I am. I take it that you have business with me."

Jūhō replied in a polite manner, "Indeed I do, but allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Jūhō, and I have been hired by my organization to fight you in a one-on-one fight. There are no specifications regarding the venue of our fight, but I would prefer it if we settle this in a separate area. We are in an area were there would be substantial collateral damage if we were to fight in this vicinity. I would suggest we settle this confrontation in a separate area away from possible unnecessary casualties."

Touma was surprised to actually see someone challenge him but actually show some concern for the innocent civilians. Despite how clearly threatening this opponent was to his life, Touma could tell this enemy was not nearly as evil as a number of other criminals he had encountered over the past three months.

This caused Touma to ask in a suspicious tone, "Then what do you have in mind?"

"I'm not going to make any recommendations. I have a feeling that despite any recommendation I could make, you would assume that I would have set up an elaborate trap. To prove that is not the case, you may select the area of your choosing. You can bring Kyuzo with you if you like as a spectator. After all, I know for a fact that he is agile enough to avoid getting injured should things go too far."

Kyuzo remained quiet as Touma asked, "So how do you two know each other?"

After a few moments, Kyuzo responded, "Let's just say if there is such a thing as fate, it certainly likes to toy with our lives greatly."

Jūhō replied, "That would be putting it lightly."

Kyuzo stated, "Jūhō appearance may not strike much confidence in his character, but I can assure you that he will not attempt to gain victory over you through underhanded methods. If he claims that he will fight you in single combat without using traps then he is serious. Unless they are a Level Five, he does not require the use of traps to obtain his victories."

After listening to that intently, Touma replied, "I see. Well it's good to know you think so highly of him." Even though Touma was not in a position to refuse, he accepted Jūhō's challenge and decided the battlefield.

/

**Location: School District 17 – Railway Cargo Area**

Academy City's School District 17 is an area at the very edge of Academy City that is essentially its industrial district. There are very few civilians that can be found in this area which made it the perfect location for Jūhō and Touma to settle this fight. This may be one of the first fights that would happen in this location, but it would not be the last time this place would be used as a battlefield. Several years from that point, a battle would take place in this area that would determine the fate of thousands of innocent people. The significance of this place would never be forgotten to Touma because he would return here over three years later for another major battle that would be the fight of his life.

After they arrived, Kyuzo stated that he would observe from a vantage point, but he would not step in to interfere with the battle unless Jūhō truly did something that would be 'out of character' for him. According to Kyuzo, Touma did not have to worry about Jūhō doing anything underhanded. However, we warned Touma to be careful of Jūhō's weapons because he utilizes them to use his powers, and when they are used together, they are capable of extremely destructive power. He told Touma that his right hand might not be enough to win this fight, and Touma had a feeling he would have to agree.

When Touma and Jūhō were about to begin, Touma had a feeling this would be his last opportunity to learn this piece of information. Touma asked in a voice mixed with curiosity and skepticism, "Before we begin, do you mind telling me why you were so concerned about the possibility of endangering civilian lives? A number of times I fought opponents before, they would attack innocent people just to lure me out."

Upon hearing that, Jūhō thought to himself, _"I suppose I should not be surprised to hear him say that considering all the trash I have put away."_ Jūhō decided to answer Touma's question before their fight began. He stated, "I consider such tactics cowardly beyond all measure. If you truly wish to make your opponent fight and have him fight at the best of his or her abilities, you do it in an area they can go all out without endangering those that should not be involved. I prefer to avoid dirtying my hands more than they need to be."

Touma was honestly surprised to hear someone from the 'darkness of Academy City' to sound even remotely noble. "Well I will admit that is a new one, but I do appreciate it. Fighting you will be a breath of fresh air for me."

Jūhō appeared to share the sentiment as he stated, "From what I can tell, it will be the same for me. I almost find it to be a shame that I should engage you in a fight, but I have my orders. Besides, you have piqued my interest. A part of me thinks I am going to enjoy fighting you for what it is worth."

Touma used his left hand to crack the knuckles in his right hand. He stated to his opponent, "I see. Well I guess that means I have to give it my all then."

"That would be my preference. I prefer to kill my enemies when they give it their all." Jūhō prepared his weapons and stated, "The pleasantries are over, and we have moved to a more appropriate venue for this fight to take place in. I think it is time for us to begin."

Touma was willing to get this show on the road. "Yes lets."

Jūhō made the first move by pointing his gun at Touma, and pulling the trigger. A blast of energy formed from his weapon and headed straight for Touma at high speed. He immediately fired several other subsequent blasts at Touma. Each of these blasts were deadly, and if they were to touch anything but Touma's right arm, they would cause him potentially fatal injuries.

However, despite how fast the blasts were coming, Touma's body was able to move instinctively move in order to block and negate each of those blasts with his Imagine Breaker without failure. It was difficult for Touma to describe, but he has always had an easy time when it came to using his Imagine Breaker to block incoming Esper attacks. It was as if he could see the attacks coming before they happen. This usually allowed him to either block the attacks with his Imagine Breaker or avoid them.

When Jūhō witnessed Touma block and negate all of his attacks, he was neither angry nor frustrated. In fact, he seemed to welcome the idea that Touma was capable of blocking his abilities. It was a challenge he was hoping to face. If those attacks would have been enough to kill the Devil he would have been disappointed.

As he saw Touma block his attacks Jūhō could not help but wonder, _"It is interesting how he is able to dodge and block my attacks given their speed. It is almost as if something is telling him what to do and how to do it."_ Jūhō continued to fire more blasts simulanteously, and not one of them managed to do Touma any harm. Jūhō thought to himself, _"My scanner does not indicate he is wearing any kind of wire. Perhaps this is all connected to the ability he has. I suppose I will have to find out for myself."_

Jūhō said in an amused tone, "Well this is certainly going to an interesting battle isn't it? You have managed to last a lot longer than about sixty percent of my opponents have, and I'm fairly certain this will keep going at this rate. I should consider myself fortunate that I have other methods of attack that go beyond simply firing blasts directly at you."

Touma asked in an in a tone that had a mixture of interest and nervousness, "What do you mean by that?"

Jūhō smiled underneath his mask and stated, "I will let my powers speak for themselves. Be sure to pay attention." Jūhō pointed his right gun into the sky. "These maybe guns, but that doesn't mean they always have to act like them." His weapon appeared to charge for a few moments before firing a blast into the sky. In a matter of seconds, Touma was about to learn firsthand what else Jūhō's powers were capable of. It would not be pleasant.

/

**Omake**:

Mikoto: Well it would appear that we have ourselves a cliffhanger ending.

Touma: Don't all the chapters of this story technically end on a cliffhanger?

Mikoto: I guess you could think like that, but I mean this one is the first chapter where we are truly left hanging on what will actually happen next within the story until the next chapter. After all, every fight that happens in this story usually gets resolved within the chapter it starts. The same goes for Fairy Dance Alternate.

Touma: That is true. I guess there is a first time for everything. Although, I suppose we are going to need to get used to it.

Mikoto: Do you mean having chapters end with a cliffhanger fight will be a new element from now on?

Touma: Yes. The author plans on having quite a few chapters have these types of endings in the future. It might be for the best in some ways. It could help give the author more of a building block to begin work on the following chapter. After all, while the author does enjoy writing these stories, they do take a lot of effort and time, which is why the author always asks for feedback/reviews from the readers to make it seem more worth it. Anyway, by giving a foundation for the subsequent chapter, it can help ease the process of writing the next chapter somewhat but it can still be cumbersome.

Mikoto: I see. Well that does make a lot of sense. I suppose the author does need to use discretion regarding how much content a chapter should contain.

Touma: Not just that. Usually the author has some kind of goal in mind of what the chapter should attempt to accomplish, such as what characters should interact with each other, who should do what, what events need to be setup & foreshadowed, among other things. That is part of the reason why some chapters are much longer than others.

Mikoto: That also makes sense as well. I suppose I don't really fit into a lot of those plans do I.

Touma: Unfortunately, that was the case for a number of these chapters and storylines. It would be unwise to just make sloppy attempts to fit a character in if he or she doesn't work for the storyline solely because fans want a character appear. That would just be bad writing.

Mikoto: Yeah I understand.

Touma: Although, it is okay to try and fit a character in if it can convincingly aid the plot advancement, show a different side to the storyline, or give the readers a breath of fresh air from certain plotlines before continuing onward. The author has used you in cases like that before, and I'm sure you know the author plans on that being the case in the future as well.

Mikoto: I guess. I suppose it has worked out in ways, such as showing the difference between my life and your life. However, the how situation still frustrates me. After all, I am sure the author could find a way to fit me into this story arc beyond my appearance in Chapter Twelve. I am grateful for the screen time I have received, but I still find it frustrating I haven't had any appearances over the past two chapters outside of these omakes, especially since I was voted as the most interesting 'Esper of Interest.' Do you have any clue when I will be appearing next?

Touma: (_Touma sighs before stating_) You obviously didn't get the memo did you Biri-Biri?

Mikoto: What memo?

Touma: The memo that informed you on your upcoming appearance in the next chapter.

Mikoto: What?! I'm going to be in the next chapter?!

Touma: It won't just be the next chapter you will be appearing in. You should be getting scenes in the next two or three chapters based on the author's current plans.

Mikoto: (_Mikoto is getting excited_) Are you kidding me?! I'm finally going to be getting a decent amount of screen time now outside of these omakes!?

Touma: Well the author did credit you as being a reoccurring character in this story arc. You wouldn't really be a reoccurring character if you only appeared in one chapter would you?

Mikoto: I guess not. Well it is great to hear that I will be making those appearances.

Touma: I am sure the readers will be looking forward to your future appearances as well.

Mikoto: That they will be. After all, I am one of the most popular characters in the franchise, which is why I have my own spin-off series. (_Mikoto faces the audience and says_) Hey readers you better be ready for my appearance in the next chapter! I will be seeing you soon!

Touma: We will be seeing another plot line begin moving in another area separate from the Big Spider! Be prepared!

Mikoto & Touma: (_Speaking in unison_) See you next time!

/

**Author Notes**: As of this chapter, the Side Stories now has as many chapters as the original Main Story received prior to going on its indefinite and most likely permanent hiatus. I would like to confirm right now that you will not have to worry about that happening with this story. The next chapter and a few subsequent chapters are currently being worked on. There will be times when this story will go on hiatus, but I will always come back to it at some point. I hope you will continue to show your support for this story by providing reviews and help keep me motivated.

As promised in the omake, Misaka Mikoto will be making her return in the next chapter, and she will be appearing in a few subsequent chapters as well. We have been seeing how Touma's life has been in the Big Spider, and we have seen other plotlines open up within the 'Darkness of Academy City.' It is time we see more of what it happening on the other end of Academy City's spectrum even if it is only at certain points. There will be times when Academy City's two spectrums shall intersect, and we will see how well they mesh together.

It is time for the moment of truth regarding your thoughts on the new characters Jūhō and Michiko, but I especially want to know what your opinion is of Jūhō. Of all the original characters I have developed for this story, he was a character that I had the easiest time developing. In a manner of days, I had already decided a number of his personality traits, his Esper abilities, his past, and a number the roles he would play in the story.

One of the last things I decided on was what his name would be. Early on during the planning stages for his character, I decided that I would be referring to him by a code name because he would have discarded his original name similar to how Accelerator does not go by his original name or how Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist discarded his name. I decided that Jūhō would be his code name due to it being the Japanese word for 'guns.'

When I was developing Jūhō, I wanted to portray him as being a darker version of Touma. Similar to Touma he wants to eliminate evil people, but he is willing to go much further. From what you saw in his debut scene, he will not kill innocent people, but he will hurt them if it is necessary. You can sort of say this is someone that Touma could have become if the wrong people had taken him in after the Child Error facility was attacked. Additionally, Jūhō is fully aware that the leader of MEMBER, also known as the Professor, is far from being an outstanding citizen. However, despite knowing the evil the Professor is capable of, Jūhō will not kill the Professor due to his loyalty to the man, which will be explained later on.

While I was developing his powers, I was partly inspired by seeing Stark from the anime/manga series Bleach. I considered Stark to be one of the coolest/best 'villain' characters in Bleach, and I really liked his dual wielding guns. It was then I decided that I wanted Jūhō to utilize two guns, and you can picture his weapons as having a similar appearance to Stark's. Shortly afterwards, I came up with the idea of having the guns literally be attached to his veins through cables so he would be able to properly control his ability. He is capable of using his ability without the cables or the guns, but he feels that if he does not have either one, it will cause another unfortunate incident similar to what he had already experienced in his past. I plan on revealing more details of his past later on. I hope you will be looking forward to learning more about Jūhō.

I would also like to hear your thoughts on the other new character Michiko. While I was developing Jūhō, I decided this would be the time to introduce a Magician for the first time in the story, and I would have her be connected to Jūhō. As we know in Volume 15 of the original Light Novels and the Railgun version of the Daihasei Festival Arc, the Professor is aware of the magic world. I decided that in this universe he would have been made aware of the magic world through both Michiko and Ramiero.

When I was producing Michiko's character, I felt like she needed to have a 'magician name.' After I did some research on Japanese terminology on the internet, I found out that the word 'chiryo-shi' means healer. While she is capable of other types of magic, healing and affecting other people's memories are her specialty. Jūhō's helmet is able to prevent her from being able to affect his memories similar how it was established in the Railgun manga that the scientists created helmets to prevent Misaki from taking control of their minds. As I hinted in this chapter, Jūhō's helmet would prevent Ramiero from being able to disguise himself as someone else. His helmet has a sensor that will render any kind of shape shifting ability moot.

In regards to Michiko's ability to affect memories, she cannot affect the memories of people with certain Esper abilities. For example, similar to Misaki is in capable of controlling or reading Mikoto's mind due to her electric capabilities, the same can be said for Michiko's abilities too. However, even if Michiko had the opportunity to mess around with Jūhō's memories, she would never do that because of her own loyalty and affection for him. However, due to Jūhō's helmet, she has never been able to see his face beyond occasionally seeing the lower half.

While I am looking forward to providing more screen time and development to Jūhō and Michiko, I plan on doing everything I can to avoid them becoming 'creator's pets.' While I will admit that Jūhō is probably my favorite original character since Ai and Yuudai, I do not plan on giving him an absurd amount of screen time in comparison to others. Jūhō and Michiko are only going to be reoccurring characters and will only appear in certain chapters. As far as I am concerned, the screen time I will be giving them will be reasonable, and almost any scene they have is something I had planned in advanced for the sake of progressing the storyline.

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I would appreciate it if you would write a review. I would especially like to hear your thoughts on Michiko and Jūhō. See you next time. Hopefully, the gap between this chapter and the next will not be as long.

/

**Fanfiction Promotions**

Story: Untitled Sword Art Online Project

The first chapter for my new Sword Art Online Fanfiction project will be released out on July 8th, 2013. You can expect new chapters to be released almost on a bi-weekly basis for at least the first five chapters. I hope you will give it a try and enjoy it.

I currently plan on this being a rather long story, and I have made numerous plans for different story arcs and subplots. Depending on the reception of the story, you can expect there to be plenty more chapters beyond the first five.

/

Story: Fairy Dance Alternate

The story is still currently on hiatus, but I have been making plans to continue writing the story later this summer. Hopefully, you will see a new chapter sometime in August. In the meantime, for those of you who have not read the story yet, be sure to give it a try.

On another note, I am hoping that there might be someone who would be willing to provide a TVTropes page for Fairy Dance Alternate as well. Would anyone be interested?

/

Story: Into the Fog

By: EnchantedSlytherin

Summary: _Reiko Narukami had always wished that she could be 'normal,' but she knew it was a wish that could not be granted. With her move to Inaba, Reiko's life has become far less normal by adding the urgency to solve kidnapping and under cases to her list. This is a retelling based on Persona 4 Golden/The Animation with a female protagonist._

Series – Persona  
>Pairing: Reiko "Rei" Narukami and Rise Kujikawa<p>

As stated in the summary, "Into The Fog" is a retelling based on a mixture of Persona 4 Golden and anime adaptation with a female protagonist, Reiko "Rei" Narukami, rather than the canon male protagonist, Yu Narukami. This story will also contain a number of altered and original scenes. A fair share of character interactions and scenes are and will be altered due to the protagonist's gender. For example, Nanako, the protagonist's young cousin, is more receptive and comfortable interacting with a female cousin, and they develop a sisterly relationship much faster.

There will also be a few original plotlines and story arcs to go along with the story as well. One of the most notable ones will involve the protagonist, Rei, realizing she 'swings' the other way and trying to find out if she can be accepted by others over the course of the story. EnchantedSlytherin plans on that to be one of the more emotional plotlines of "Into the Fog."

Similar to the video game and anime, there will be a number of side/supporting characters outside the Investigation Team. There will be a mixture of both canon and original characters throughout the story. A few characters that originally only had a handful of scenes in the story or were mentioned but not seen, such as the protagonist's parents, will have a more significant role in the plotline.

It is a story I would recommend. EnchantedSlytherin's writing continues to improve with each chapter, and there is definitely a lot of potential with this story and the portrayal of the characters both canon and original.


	15. Story IV: The Devil's Reign Part IV

**Author Notes**: With this chapter, "Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories" is now one more chapter longer than the original "Of Science and Magics." Unfortunately, for those of you who are fans of Stormwolfex's original work, it would appear that as of this moment, he has no plans of returning. Stormwolfex has told me that he has gone through a few 'difficulties,' and it would be for the best to leave it at that. Let us all wish him luck with his future.

While the original story future is indefinitely in limbo, you will not have to worry about this story. I will complete the story regarding Touma's time as the Devil in the Big Spider. A few of you have asked whether or not I will take up the mantle and continue the main story. As of this moment, that might become a possibility, but it would be better to wait to see what happens in the future. After all, there are a number of factors to consider.

On another note, for those of you who might be wondering about Jūhō's power, he does share a similar weakness to Mugino. Similar to her, he is not immune to his own abilities. If he were to absorb too much energy or it becomes too much for him to control, he would face the same consequences that Mugino faced during her fight with Hamazura Shiage. However, the wires that go directly into his veins prevent that from happening, but it does prevent his abilities from going past a certain mark.

If Jūhō were to try using his abilities naturally, his abilities would grow, and he could potentially be a Level Five. However, due to a number of issues with his past, he lacks the confidence to try naturally controlling his abilities. In a way, you can say he is similar to Musujime Awaki since she has the potential to become a Level Five, but an incident in her past caused her great trauma and her encounter with Accelerator added to that. However, the incident that Jūhō experienced was far worse than what happened to Awaki. You may find out what it was later in the story.

For the time being, I hope you enjoy the continuation of the Jūhō and Touma fight, and I look forward to reading your reviews.

/

Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories

Side Story IV: The Devil's Reign: Part IV

Chapter Fifteen: Encounters that Change Everything

/

A Chance Encounter

They can affect everyone

For better or worse

/

It had been over a week since Touma had defeated the Devil's representatives with the help of several of his fellow Big Spider members. That experience had further proved the importance of working in tandem with his allies. As a result, Touma began asking a few other Big Spider members if they were willing to go on one of his runs, besides Konori or Wataru. This time Wataru had convinced Touma to work with Kyuzo. Despite Kyuzo's usual demeanor, Kyuzo was surprisingly willing to accompany Touma.

Wataru was interested in seeing the results of Kyuzo and Touma's teamwork since the two of them were not the most shining examples of the definition for 'team players.' He figured this could help break some new ground for the two of them because they were not too far apart in terms of personality but differed greatly due to their circumstances. While Touma dived into the darkness after the incident of the Child Error facility, Kyuzo had lived within the darkness for quite some time, and he was more accustomed to this way of life.

Kyuzo had done numerous terrible deeds thorough his time in the darkness of Academy City. These were deeds that were not easily washed away. However, his encounter with Wataru changed all of that. Wataru fought and defeated Kyuzo. Afterwards, Kyuzo decided to defect to the Big Spider, and he received the scar on his face after he left, but he did not mind it because he considered it the turning point in his life. Even if he could eliminate the scar's existence, he would rather keep it as a reminder, and the same could be said for the other scars on his body.

/

**Location: Academy City – School District 10 – Big Spider's ****Martial Arts Training Room**

As interested as Wataru was in seeing the possible developments for Kyuzo and Touma play out, he knew that he had better things to do in the meantime than to wait around for those two to return. As soon as Kyuzo and Touma left the Big Spider Headquarters, Konori had challenged him to a match. He could see in her eyes how determined she was to defeat him. Even though they both knew, she would not stand a chance against him, he liked her spirit. Konori's spirit was always something that he liked about her

On the day Konori joined Big Spider, she struck him as a person that did not know where she was going in life. Konori told him that similar to many people who wanted to be 'Espers' in Academy City she had hit a 'wall' in her Esper training. Wataru could understand where she was coming from. A few years earlier he entered Academy City in hopes that he could gain an Esper ability and make something of himself. There was not really much for him outside the walls of Academy City.

Unfortunately, Wataru lacked the 'talent' to become an Esper, and he has remained a Level Zero, and never received any help with becoming stronger. Unlike Level Zeroes who were treated somewhat better by Academy City, he was one of the unlucky ones that were discarded and deemed a 'drop-out.' Since Wataru entered Academy City, Wataru did not know if he could be accepted by an outside society again even though he had no Esper abilities to speak of. Between being deemed a 'drop-out' by Academy City and having nothing to live for on the outside world, Wataru did not know what he could do with his life until the day he met the Skill-Out member named Komaba.

On the day Wataru met Komaba, Komaba convinced Wataru that even if he did not have the potential that Academy City desires, he still had the potential for much greater things. After training with the Skill-Out, Wataru realized that Komaba was right. He quickly became the best fighter throughout Skill-Out. With his speed and fighting skills, you would almost think Wataru had an Esper ability, but he did not. His fighting abilities were forged purely through intense training and his own efforts. Eventually, Wataru created his own branch of Skill-Out known as the Big Spider, and he would occasionally work with Komaba on 'joint' operations.

Wataru commemorated the forming of the Big Spider by having a tattoo placed on the upper right side of his back which depicted a large black spider on a red web. Ever since he began the Big Spider, he had attempted to do the same for others that Komaba had done for him. He would try to convince the people he recruited or attempted to recruit that they were worth something, and if they needed his help, he would train them like he did with Konori. It was Wataru's personality and ideals that the Big Spider received a fair number of Level Zeroes, whether they were male or female, wished to join the group before the days of the Devil. Wataru's personality might have been part of the reason Komaba recommended Touma be under Wataru's wing rather than his own.

Throughout the years of the Big Spider's existence, Wataru had confronted those that he considered to be dangerous whether they had Esper abilities or not. However, he always knew where to draw the line, and he was sure to remind the other members of Big Spider to do the same. They would never harm innocent civilians. In fact, Wataru protected a young boy from another group by Academy City's artificial riverbank. Konori happened to be passing through the area when the altercation happened, and that is what led to their first meeting.

When Konori witnessed what happened, she decided that she wanted to join the Big Spider. She wanted to become stronger and learn how to fight under Wataru's guidance. He could see in her eyes she had the determination to become stronger, and those eyes have not changed. She has been by his side ever since that day, and he has been happy she has remained with the Big Spider. Konori's loyalty and determination were the virtues that Wataru appreciated the most about her.

Wataru had personally trained a fair number of people who joined the Big Spider, but Touma and Konori were by far his best students. However, Touma and Konori still had a long way to go before they could stand a chance against him. He had defeated them in a fair number of their practice fights, but he liked the fact, they still kept coming back for more, and they did not complain about losing. Wataru was always willing to accept a challenge, and the challenge Konori issued would be no different.

As the match began, Konori and Wataru seemed evenly matched at first. Konori was able to block a number of Wataru's punches with ease, but she was unable to get a hit on Wataru. His speed made it difficult to land a clean punch. After exchanging a few attacks, Konori could see that Wataru was not going all out. She had seen what he was capable of when he fought against his opponents seriously, and he was definitely not giving it his all.

Konori knew that Wataru was somewhat of a 'chivalrous pervert.' In recent weeks, Wataru had made a few comments regarding her 'improving' figure, but he has said those comments in a manner that did not offend her. Wataru would mention that her 'development' was most likely a result of the mushino milk. He was the one that recommended Konori drink the mushino milk when he noticed that she was a little upset about her lack of 'development.' It was Wataru's personal belief that the milk would not only provide the usual nutrients, but it would help provide a boost in a woman's assets. What happened to Konori over the past few months was all the proof he needed to prove his 'theory.'

Whenever, Wataru would make comments about Konori figure, he would say it in a playful, smooth manner that would not cause her to get angry with him. Touma had witnessed him say such things a few times and he was very surprised that Wataru would get away scot-free. Apparently, after Konori's less than subtle threat to Touma at the changing area in the aftermath the Devil's Representative incident, Touma asked Wataru for some 'lessons' in that regard. Wataru being Wataru was more than happy to accept Touma as his student for 'talking to woman.' His lessons would prove to be 'partially' helpful for the future interactions Touma would have with various girls.

However, Konori also liked Wataru because he was always ready and willing to get serious when the need arose, and he genuinely cared for his subordinates regardless of their gender. Comments of her recent developments aside, he did not treat her much differently than he treated anyone else. The only one he gave 'special' treatment to was Touma, but Konori was not jealous of that. In fact, she understood Wataru's reasons why he gave Touma that 'special' treatment and why Touma probably needed it. In fact, she probably was guilty of giving Touma 'special' treatment too. After all, Konori's problems from her past were meager in comparison to Touma's.

When it came to training his students, Wataru rarely went all out unless he was asked. In a few of their previous matches, Wataru only fought Konori at around this level, and she still did not stand a chance. However, now she was able to hold her own at this level, but she could still tell that he was going easy on her. Konori wanted to push her limits and get him to start fighting her more seriously. She knew that she would most likely not stand a chance if he got serious, but she needed to give it a shot to know how far she had come.

/

After she blocked another attack, she backed away and put a little distance between herself and Wataru. She then told Wataru told him in a determined voice, "I know that you are holding back on me Wataru!"

Wataru did not deny and playfully asked, "What gave me away?"

Konori answered in a playful voice of her own. "Let's just say that I know you well enough by now to know the difference. I have seen your handiwork for myself."

Wataru replied in a sincere voice, "That's impressive. It took everyone else I have ever sparred with a lot longer to figure that out. You have truly come a long way in your training."

Konori responded in a voice mixed with eagerness and enthusiasm, "Thank you for the compliment, but I don't want you to hold back! I want you to give me everything you got."

Wataru asked in a smug smile, "Are you sure about that? As soon as I start going all out, there will be no stopping until the match is over."

Konori stated in a determined voice, "I don't care what the outcome will be! I need to be able to fight you when you give it your all! That's the only way I can really test myself!"

"I have always admired your spirit Konori. If you want me to go all out, then that is what you will get." Wataru cracked his knuckles and went into ready position. He declared to his opponent, "Let's go!"

The two opponents charged at each other, and they were ready to give it everything they had to win. Wataru's movements became noticeable faster, and his attacks became much more difficult to block or dodge. After Konori blocked a kick from Wataru's right foot, he followed up with a punch with his left hand, which Konori managed to barely dodge. Konori's eyes were wide open as she continued to have numerous close calls, but she was not going to let up. She was determined to see the fight through to the end.

Unfortunately for Konori, she was hardly able to keep up with Wataru's assaults let alone deliver an attack on her own. The one time she did manage to throw her own punch, her fist was caught by Wataru's hand with ease. He grinned at her with a playfully smug façade. He was clearly enjoying himself more than she was at this point.

As he held her hand in place, he asked in a playful voice, "Do you want me to start going easier on you now?"

Konori replied in a defiant voice, "No." She managed to break his grip of her hand, and she surprised him with a follow up kick. It managed to hurt Wataru slightly, but it only managed to push him back a few feet.

Wataru was pleased to hear Konori was not going to back down. He decided to continue respecting her wishes, and he continued to attack her. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to block or dodge his attacks as the fight went on because her endurance was not nearly as great as his. As a result, she was becoming tired faster than he was, and her defeat was within sight. Both Konori and Wataru knew it was coming, but neither one of them were going to let up.

After a few more strikes, Wataru managed to break through Konori's defenses. He hit her in her upper chest area which was right above her breasts and below her neck. The strength of that punch was enough to stun Konori, but Wataru was not finished yet. He proceeded to send her flying with a kick using his right foot. She was unable to recover from those two strikes, and she fell down to the ground.

After Konori was knocked to the ground, she gracefully accepted her defeat and stated, "You win again."

Wataru told her in a congratulatory voice, "You certainly have improved Konori. I'm impressed." Wataru offered Konori his hand, so she could get back on her feet.

Konori smiled as she grabbed his hand and said, "I still have a long way to go."

Wataru playfully smiled as he told her, "Consider that a good thing. It is always easier to keep pressing forward to gain strength rather than to try and maintain it at a regular level. When you are trying to become stronger, you are looking ahead rather than looking sideways."

Konori chuckled a little and responded, "Well I can't argue with that. To be honest, I feel better about losing when you give it your all than I would have if I had won because you went easy on me. At least now I can look towards reaching a point when I will be able to defeat you."

Wataru laughed a little when he heard that, "I figured that would be the case with you. I can really respect that." Wataru then put out his hand for her to shake, "In that case, let's keep this in mind for the day that you wish to defeat me. Let's continue to train together until the day arrives."

Konori was a little disappointed Wataru was offering her a handshake, but she was happy to accept it. "I definitely will."

The student and the teacher shook hands for the future of their rivalry. They would both do their parts to ensure the rivalry would be fulfilled to the best of their abilities.

/

**Location: Academy City – School District 10 – Big Spider's ****Kitchen**

After training for a while longer, Konori and Wataru eventually decided to take a break and have something to eat. They decided it would be more peaceful to have their meal in the kitchen than the cafeteria, so they would be able to speak in private. The regular cafeteria was filled with various members, and it would be rather difficult for anyone to have a normal conversation in such an environment. Ever since the recent victory over the Devil's Representatives, the number of people who wished to join the Skill-Out, especially the Big Spider division increased exponentially.

The Big Spider considered the Devil's victory over that Esper gang to be a rather large victory for the organization as a whole. They all believed that the combined efforts of the Devil along with everyone else who was in charge of the sting operation that took down the Devil's Representatives proved that the Big Spider was capable of living up to the ideals of being able to stand up against Espers that abused their powers. As a result, Big Spider was close to receiving more members than Wataru was capable of handling.

Wataru knew that he would need to rely more on some of his high level subordinates, such as Hebitani Tsuguo and Tsukuda Kyuzo to help him with managing the Big Spider. He wanted to include Konori and Touma more in the leadership roles as well, but they did not have the 'experience' that would be necessary. However, similar to how Wataru taught them to fight, Wataru was willing to take them under his wing, so they could gain some leadership experience. Both Konori and Touma would take him up on his offer, but the 'lessons' would prove to be more useful for Konori than they would be for Touma.

Before Wataru became too worried about leadership issues, he decided it would be for the best to enjoy this tranquil moment of eating this meal with Konori. After all, if he did not take a breather every once and a while, he would not have what it takes to continue being the Big Spider's leader. In fact, Wataru also figured that they all could use a well deserved break soon, and he was thinking about what they could do to take the 'edge off.' However, Wataru decided that it would be for the best to wait until after they investigated the 'communicator device lead' because Touma would not be willing to take a break beforehand.

While they were eating Konori spoke up and asked Wataru, "There is something I need to talk to you about Wataru."

Wataru could see from the look in her eyes that this was a serious subject, "What do you need to talk about Konori."

Konori took a deep breath before stating, "It's about the Sting Operation we pulled off at the Underground Mall last week. Did I mention to you that Kamijou-san tried to bench me when the operation began?"

Based on Touma's general personality, Wataru was not shocked to hear that, and he replied, "No, but it doesn't surprise me in the least. What did you say to him?"

Konori answered, "I made it clear to him I wasn't going to back down, so he reluctantly accepted my help."

Wataru replied, "Reluctant acceptance huh? Well at least we are making some progress. Over a month ago, he would not have been willing to listen at all."

Konori nodded her head in agreement as she said, "Tell me about it, but there is something more to what happened that day."

Wataru asked in a curious tone, "What do you mean? Did something happen to you or something?

Konori answered, "Something like that." Konori scratched her head as she tried to find the right words and then asked, "Do you think Kamijou-san is so willing to do these things solely because he enjoys helping people, or do you think a part of the reason he is doing this because it gives him a rush?"

Wataru could not help but raise an eyebrow after hearing his subordinate's question. Instead of answering her questions, he asked his own question. "What do you mean a rush?"

Konori was still having difficulty finding the right words to use as she told Wataru, "Well it kind of hard to explain."

Wataru replied in a concerned voice, "You can take your time to find the right words, but did something happen to you during the Sting operation? Did any of the Espers harm you with their abilities?"

Konori was surprised to hear Wataru ask that question as she immediately answered, "No. I was able to knock the Espers unconscious before they could use their powers on me, but …" Konori paused as she was speaking.

Wataru then asked, "But what?"

After a moment, Konori responded, "When I was taking down the different members of the Devil's Representatives, I kind of got a 'high' off the danger I was in. I mean I was focused on the mission of taking them down and saving the hostages, and I was scared of what might happen on more than one occasion. However, I would be lying if I told you I didn't feel excited when I was helping Touma take them down one by one."

Wataru appeared to understand what Konori was getting at as he asked, "Are you concerned about how you felt when you were in this situation? Are you afraid that it might negatively affect you in the future?"

Konori admitted, "Yes. That is exactly what I'm worried about."

Wataru assured Konori, "Having a feeling like that is not completely unexpected Konori. In situations like that, it is natural for your adrenaline to begin pumping. I have been doing things like this long enough to know that will happen."

While Wataru's words did comfort her a little, Konori was still not completely sure as she responded, "I guess. However, I have also felt like this when I have gone on some of the runs with Kamijou-kun throughout Academy City. Even though I remain focused on saving those in need, I can't help but feel that it is a little fun to be the one taking down those criminals. It makes me wonder if Kamijou-kun thinks the same way as well."

Wataru told Konori in a firm voice, "He probably does. However, he probably does the best he can to contain it and remain set on handling the tasks ahead. You know as well as I do that he experienced some rather terrible events because of those kinds of people. It would not surprise me if he feels some level of satisfaction that he is putting the shoe on the other foot."

Konori could see there was no arguing with that logic as she stated, "When you put it like that, it is understandable." The expression on her face was a mixture of uncertainty and sadness.

When Wataru saw this face he told her, "I hope this does not affect how you think about Touma. Even if he does get a sense of enjoyment out of this, he is still trying to do the right thing. He does what he can to stop himself from going too far even if he does walk along the line a little. I would give you the same advice as well."

Konori responded, "No it doesn't affect what I think about Kamijou-kun at all. In fact, it sort of makes me respect him more because he tries to keep himself on the right path despite everything. I consider him to be a hero, and I will be sure to keep this advice in mind for the future."

Wataru frowned a little as Konori called Touma a 'hero.' He did not disagree with calling Touma a hero, but he knew that was one thing Touma would not refer to himself as. He told Konori in a stern voice, "You may think Touma is a hero, but I doubt that he would agree with you."

Konori asked in protest, "Why wouldn't he?"

Wataru explained in a voice that was completely devoid of his usual playfulness, "He is not the type of guy to think of himself as a hero. Sure he has done a number of heroic things and saved people's lives, but he has also done a few less than heroic deeds as well, such as putting that knife through Takaya's hands in front of all those people even though Takaya had it coming. When Touma committed those actions, it may have been necessary to accomplish the objective. However, even with that kind of justification, it does not change the fact that many people might think of Touma as being just as dangerous as the enemies he takes down, and Touma might think he is on the borderline of becoming just like the ones he takes down."

While Konori could understand the reasoning, she was not completely convinced as she responded, "That is true, but the world isn't exactly black and white, especially not here. All things considered, I think Kamijou-san does a good job proving himself to be a hero. Most people on the urban legend forums generally agree that he is one."

Wataru sighed as he replied, "I don't disagree with you, but that doesn't change the fact he probably would never agree with you, me, or anyone else who tells him that. At this point, he probably does not want to think of himself as a hero because it might stop him from trying to accomplish his goal of revenge. After all, are 'heroes' generally characterized as people who desire revenge?"

That was one question that Konori had a hard time answering. She thought, _"I guess that usually isn't the case." _Konori stated, "Not the ideal hero." She then quickly changed the subject by saying, "You mentioned a minute ago that Kamjiou-san might feel he is on the borderline of becoming like his enemies."

Wataru stated in a somewhat grim voice, "When you fight within the darkness of Academy City, it is not unusual to lose yourself unless you constantly remind yourself who you are. That is what I have had to do ever since I established the Big Spider. Someone like Touma is especially vulnerable to having something like that happen to him."

Konori then asked in a concerned voice, "If we can't convince him that we think he is a hero, how can we at least stop him from thinking he is becoming like his enemies?"

Wataru replied in a more hopeful voice, "That is what he has us and the rest of Big Spider for Konori."

Konori asked in an uncertain voice, "What do you mean?"

Wataru explained, "We might not always be able to fight alongside him, but we can still do what we can to keep Touma on the right path. If he no longer knows when he should stop himself, we will be there to remind him."

Konori was not entirely convinced as she asked, "You really think we will be enough?"

Wataru assured her in a confident voice, "I know we are.

Hearing Wataru's response was enough to get her to believe. "Okay then." Konori looked at the clock and asked, "Speaking of Kamijou-san, he has been gone for longer than he usually would be. Do you think he ran into some trouble or something?"

Wataru answered, "Knowing Touma I have no doubt about that. However, I'm not really worried about that. He left with Kyuzo on this run earlier, and I'm sure he will be back pretty soon."

Konori responded, "I sure hope your right."

/

**Location: Academy City – District 17 – Railway Cargo Area**

**Time: Roughly the same time Konori and Wataru are having their discussions**

While Konori and Wataru were having this discussion, Touma was busy fighting for his life. He had been challenged to a fight by an operative from the underground organization MEMBER who went by the codename Jūhō. Touma went into this fight knowing full well that this was not going to be easy, but he had no way of knowing just how difficult this battle was going to be. At this point, Touma had nearly died several times, and they had only been fighting for a few minutes.

After seeing that Touma was faring better than a majority of his past opponents, Jūhō could not help but feel somewhat amused. He happily commented, "Well this is certainly going to an interesting battle isn't it? You have managed to last a lot longer than about sixty percent of my opponents have, and I'm fairly certain this will keep going at this rate. I should consider myself fortunate that I have other methods of attack that go beyond simply firing blasts directly at you."

Touma asked in an in a tone that had a mixture of interest and nervousness, "What do you mean by that?"

Jūhō smiled underneath his mask and stated, "I will let my powers speak for themselves. Be sure to pay attention." Jūhō pointed his right gun into the sky. "These maybe guns, but that doesn't mean they always have to act like them." His weapon appeared to charge for a few moments before firing a blast into the sky. In a matter of seconds, Touma was about to learn firsthand what else Jūhō's powers were capable of. It was not going to be a pleasant experience in the least.

When the energy blast that Jūhō fired into the air was almost directly above Touma, it then exploded. A moment later, energy blasts rained down from the sky. The attack that Jūhō was using was similar to a mortar that is used by the army. Certain mortars shoot bombs into the air that explode partway through and projectiles emerge from them to level the area below.

Touma's eyes widened in horror when he realized what exactly was coming down at him, and he thought, _"Oh crap! Not good!"_

On reflex, Touma managed to jump out of the area he was standing in as one of the energy blasts that were raining down on him hit that exact spot. It destroyed the ground that he was standing on and anything that was there was vaporized. Touma continued to look up to dodge the other energy blasts raining down from the sky. Even if Touma could have negated this attack with his right hand, there was no way he was going to take his chances.

Despite Touma's great dodging abilities, he did not make it out complete unscathed. The backlash from one of the energy blasts sent him flying into one of the crates. He believed if he would have hit the crate with anymore force he probably would have gone right through the crate itself and broke every bone in his body. Luckily for him, he would only suffer a few minor scrapes and have the wind knocked out of him.

After a few moments, Touma managed to regain his breath and looked around the surrounding area that was devastated by Jūhō's attack. The railroad tracks that were not destroyed were in disarray, numerous crates were blown to pieces, and the impacts from the energy blasts were quite noticeable on the ground. Touma could not help but think, _"It is going to be a while before this place is up and running again. That is assuming there is anything left to fix."_

Touma was astonished at Jūhō's attacks as he thought, _"His attack was like a mortar. He can shoot a blast of energy into the sky and then it rains down on the targets below it. Since these attacks are coming from multiple areas in the sky, these attacks are difficult to dodge let alone block. The devastation they cause doesn't even require them to hit you directly to hurt you. This will be a dangerous opponent to fight." _Touma noticed a few railroad spikes near him and thought, _"Something tells me these things might come in handy. At this point, I will need almost anything I can use as a weapon on this guy."_

While Touma was thinking, he realized that Jūhō was nowhere to be seen. He was bewildered by this as he thought, _"Where did Jūhō_ _go? Why didn't he try to shoot me while I was dodging all those attacks or when I was recovering from nearly getting killed by one of his blasts?"_

As honorable as Jūhō was in many aspects, he would have been more than willing to shoot someone in that type of situation if it meant victory. He maybe honorable, but he is not stupid enough to waste a good opportunity to eliminate his enemies. However, it was a matter that he could not bring himself to do it but rather a matter that he was unable to do it. While Touma was dodging the attacks, Jūhō was forced to make a temporary retreat.

After Jūhō shot that blast of energy, he put more power into that shot than he originally intended. He had been so used to using his guns to fire his powers as bullets or energy blasts that he was not as prepared to use his powers in other ways, such as creating that mortar attack. However, he knew that he would need to be creative if he was going to win this battle. Luckily for him, there were plenty of places that could allow him to recharge.

/

Jūhō was running, it was at an unsteady pace. After he finally managed to find an appropriate place to stop, he was breathing heavily. He thought to himself, _"I put too much into that last attack. I'm going to need to be more careful."_ Jūhō looked at his hands, and he could see that they were involuntarily shaking. He thought, _"Well this isn't very good now is it."_ However, when he saw the control panel next to him, he changed to a more positive attitude as he thought, _"At least that's good to see."_

Jūhō pointed his gun at the control panel, and the electricity began to leave the control panel, and his gun was beginning to absorb it. As his gun absorbed the electivity, the electricity then traveled through the wires that connected his guns to his veins. When the electricity entered his veins, they began to breakdown and absorb the energy into his body which was nourishing to him similar to what happens when a person's stomach digests food. This was one of the main reasons Jūhō's ability was known as '**Energy Body**.'

While Jūhō was capable of absorbing most forms of energy into his body without any difficulty, there was one form of energy he was afraid to absorb. It was the energy emitted from a magical ability. Michiko had previously told him that if he attempted to use magic, it would cause him physical injury, namely blood vessels being ruptured due to the opposing energies of Esper and Magical abilities. It was Jūhō's fear that if he were to absorb magical energy into his body, the very process that would usually re-energize and heal him would destroy his veins and kill him.

Even if the Professor ordered him to conduct an 'experiment,' that would be one order he would forever refuse. He may be loyal to the Professor, but he would never follow an order that would basically have him possibly commit suicide. Due to his abilities, the Professor would not be in a position to force him to do anything because that would be detrimental to his own plans and keeping the balance of power between himself and his rivals. The Professor would need him alive for both of their sakes. It was times like these that Jūhō was grateful that his abilities made him too useful to be thrown away.

While Jūhō was absorbing the electrical energy from the control panel, Touma was cautiously moving throughout the railway cargo area in search of his opponent. As he was running, he kept a lookout for any possible surprise attacks that Jūhō may try to attack him with. Little did Touma know that Jūhō was not currently in the position to do a stunt like that. During his search, Touma noticed a few railroad spikes that were lying on the ground that were probably dislodged from their rightful places after Jūhō's previous attack destroyed a few of the tracks.

On reflex, Touma decided to pick up the spikes. He was not sure what he could use them for, but he figured that they probably would come in handy to help win this fight. It was as if something in his head was telling him that they would be necessary. For the time being, he would put the spikes into one of the pockets he kept his spare ammunition. They would be readily available for him to use anytime. After he picked them up, he heard a sound nearby, and he decided to check it out.

The sound Touma heard was Jūhō absorbing the electricity. As Jūhō was absorbing the control panel's electricity into his body, Jūhō could feel his previous weariness begin to fade, and he was becoming combat ready again. He felt like he could fire five of those 'mortar' type attacks. This time he would not repeat the same mistake that he made, and he would be more careful utilizing his energy. Similar to Touma, Jūhō was determined to be the victor, and he would stop at nothing to ensure he could attain victory.

Before Jūhō was finished with the process of absorbing the electricity, Touma managed to find him. Touma was quick to understand that Jūhō was absorbing the electricity from the control panel. On reflex, Touma charged in to attack Jūhō because he knew that he did not have the luxury of waiting around and thinking about what his opponent was doing. Touma did a flying kick that was aimed at Jūhō's head.

Just as Jūhō finished absorbing the energy, he turned around in time to see Touma giving him a jump kick. He was not fast enough to dodge or block the attack, so Touma's attack connected with him. Even though Jūhō was wearing a helmet, Touma's kick managed to ring Jūhō's bell. Touma then followed that attack by kicking Jūhō's stomach area that managed to stun him a little. Finally, Touma sent Jūhō flying with another kick to his chest area. However, it only took Jūhō a few seconds to recover from Touma's attacks, and he was more than read to continue.

While the armor that Jūhō was wearing did provide protection, it was still far from invulnerable. He could still feel pain from receiving his opponents' attacks, but it was also possible for his opponents to injure themselves from physically assaulting him while wearing this armor. That was something Touma was aware of because his legs felt some pain after kicking Jūhō's armor. Touma resorted to those kicks rather than punching Jūhō because he believed that such an attack would be less than effective, and his arm would be in more pain than his legs. However, Touma knew that he would need to use other attacks if he was going to win.

/

One attack that Touma had that did not involve martial arts or the railroad spikes he recently acquired was the gun in his holster. Thanks to his training in Skill-Out, he was skilled with firing at targets from a distance, however, the only times he really used it in the field would be when he was giving his victims their 'punishment.' In regular fights, he generally used his martial arts abilities rather than using his bullets. If he used his gun now, it would be the first time he needed to use his gun for a real fight. While he could use the gun anytime he wanted to, he was going to save the bullets for the right moment.

The bullets that Touma was equipped with were armor piercing. These weapons were supplied thanks to Ichirou's undercover work in the Anti-Skill. It was unusual for anyone in Japan to have these types of weapons, including the police force. Not to mention, due to the stricter gun laws in Japan that rarely allowed civilians to possess a gun, except for specific circumstances, the selection of guns available was not as diverse as some countries. However, Academy City was an exception to the rule. In case, there were issues that involves rouge Espers, the Anti-Skill would need to be equipped with weapons that could handle any potential situation, which included being able to pierce armor.

In the past, the Big Spider needed to raid possible Anti-Skill supplies at random and hope to acquire the weapons they needed. There were times when Tsumikado's information would provide the Skill-Out with the necessary information for a price. However, due to Ichirou's work, they no longer needed to rely on the freelance spy, and they were able to be more organized in obtaining some of the equipment they needed. Jiro also provided assistance by improving upon some of the weapons. Although, even with these bullets and Jiro's improvements, it would most likely take a few shots in approximately the same area before Jūhō's armor could be sufficiently damaged.

Despite it being logical that he should use this weapon to win the battle, Touma hesitated. If he used his gun in a real fight, he could end up killing someone. Even though he was fine with using it to shoot his opponent's legs, he never shot it in a way that it would end up killing his opponents. At least when he would shoot his opponents in their legs, he knew that his opponents would receive medical treatment long before they had a chance to bleed to death. If Touma used this weapon in a real fight, there was no telling how long it would be before Jūhō received medical attention.

/

Despite his morals, Touma was forced to give up that way of thinking in the face of Jūhō's power. After Jūhō recovered from Touma's attack, Jūhō immediately fired multiple energy blasts from his guns. Instead of attempting to block any of them, Touma opted to dodge. He knew that despite his right hand's capabilities, it was unlikely that he could block all of those attacks simultaneously.

After Touma dodged that attack, he thought, _"How was he able to fire multiple blasts at once? Was this a result of him absorbing all that energy?"_

Unfortunately for Touma, he did not have the luxury of being able to think as Jūhō continued to follow up with several additional attacks that Touma managed to barely dodge. However, Touma did not have to worry about being on the receiving end of these 'multi-blast attacks.' After a few times firing multiple blasts at once, Jūhō was unable to do that any further, and he was back to using the regular attacks again that Touma was able to block with his Imagine Breaker.

Touma thought, _"It seems like I was right about that. It must have been a result of absorbing that excess energy before."_

However, despite being able to block Jūhō's attacks with his Imagine Breaker again, they were still fast and deadly. There were a few times Touma still needed to rely on dodging rather than attempting to block the attacks. In addition to using his normal attacks, Jūhō also used his mortar type attack again. Jūhō learned his lesson from the previous time, and he did not use as much energy, but it was still deadly.

With all of Jūhō's attacks, it would be difficult for Touma to be able to attack him from close range unless Jūhō ran out of power again which was not happening anytime soon. If anything, Touma was going to be running out of energy soon. Jūhō relentlessly attacked Touma with his energy blasts that Touma continued to dodge. However, even though Touma dodged the attacks, the energy blasts caused damage to the surrounding area.

It was a good thing that no one was in the immediate vicinity except for Touma and Jūhō because the area was becoming totaled, and almost anyone else would have been killed. With all of the attacks Touma dodged, the energy blasts went on to destroy numerous railcars and containers. More rail tracks were uprooted, and plenty of craters were being created. Needless to say the repair budget for this area was most likely going to go through the roof.

One of the attacks destroyed the base of a large crane which did not appear to be affected at first. However, after a minute or so, the base gave way, and the crane came crashing down. It was going to land right on top of Touma and Jūhō if they did not move out of the way. When they both noticed the crane was about to fall on top of them, their eyes were open wide with surprise. Jūhō attempted to destroy the falling crane, but his energy blast only caused the crane to shatter and there was more debris for the two of them to avoid.

Touma desperately dodged the debris that fell his way. There were a few close calls. A few pieces of debris literally landed inches away from his head, but he managed to escape from that unscathed. As he was running away, he thought, _"The fact that I'm just escaping from this must mean something worse is coming my way."_

Jūhō was able to make it out of that unscathed as well thanks to his armor. As he dusted himself off he thought, _"It appears I am going to need to be a little more careful when it comes to using these energy blasts. I'm not used to using this many attacks in a real battle. I suppose I'm going to need to lower the amount of power I put into these energy blasts, so they do not cause as much destruction." _He then looked around and thought, _"Where did the Devil go?"_

After dodging the debris from the crane, Touma managed to find a temporary place to hide as he attempted to catch his breath. He took several deep breaths as he thought in a frustrated tone, _"Damn. This is getting really ugly. I don't think that I will be able to keep this up for long. At this rate, either one of those blasts are going to kill me or the collateral damage of this area will." _Touma then looked at his holster and thought, _"Looks like I'm going to need to put my gun training to the test after all."_

Touma looked around the area, and tried to come up with a plan that he could use to win this fight. After spotting a few nearby containers he thought, _"That might work." _He then pulled out his gun and thought to himself, _"This fight is about to start its final round."_

/

**Location: MEMBER Headquarters – The Professor's Office**

**Time: Same time as Touma and Jūhō's fight**

As Touma and Jūhō were having their battle, they had a few spectators watching from a distance. The Professor, the leader of MEMBER, was watching the fight using some of the devices that his subordinate Baba Yoshio provided. He was able to get a bird's eye view of the action, and he was not the only one. Three others were watching the fight as well. They were FukazawaMichiko, Baba Yoshio, and Ramerio Morales.

Of the four that were watching, the only one that seemed remotely concerned about Jūhō's well being was Michiko. The Professor and Baba were more interested in seeing the results of this fight. Ramerio was more amused by this 'entertainment,' and wanted to see if anyone would die at the end of this fight.

/

The **Professor** – He was the leader of the underground organization known as MEMBER, and he was one of the most intelligent individuals within Academy City. Unlike many other scientists, he was willing to open his mind to possibilities outside of Esper related topics. This was one reason why the Professor was one of the only people that was able to accept and understand the existence of Magic. Under different circumstances, he could have been a possible liaison between the Scientific and Magic worlds. However, in the world they lived in now, he would attempt to use Magic to his benefit to further his agendas.

To this day, this man's past and his real name remains unknown even to his subordinates. Whenever someone speaks to him, they are to refer to him as 'Professor' and nothing else. It is rumored that the Professor erased all traces of existence of his pervious life before he delved into the 'Darkness of Academy City.' Based on what certain people are like within the Darkness of Academy City, it was likely that this rumor was valid.

The Professor was an old man who was most likely around the age of Kihara Gensei. His hair was a mixture of black and gray strands that appears to stand up in a fashion that resembles a typical mad scientist type hairstyle from the olden day movies. Additionally, he was never seen without his trademark eye glasses. Despite his old age, he does not appear to have any wrinkles, and he has a rather determined look on his face. It displayed that despite his age, he was determined to accomplish his goals, and he would stop at nothing to eliminate his enemies.

/

**Baba Yoshio** – He previously had an encounter with Jūhō and Michiko, but his memory of their encounter was erased. However, his abilities with machinery caught the Professor's attention, and he was eventually recruited to join MEMBER. Recruiting Baba into MEMBER proved to be a rather simple task since he had the freedom to create any kind of robot of his choosing. He has been a loyal subordinate to the Professor ever since.

Whether or not Baba has any Esper abilities remains unknown, but Jūhō has speculated that Baba may have received an Esper ability that increased his intelligence which would explain why he is capable of handling machinery. Baba preferred to create robots, so they could do his fighting for him rather than getting his own hands dirty. The robots he would build were generally the shape of animals, and they would handle various tasks, such as fighting opponents or spying. The robots in his arsenal included but were not limited to, Great Danes, Mosquitoes, and Mantis that all performed their own unique functions.

Baba had brown eyes and brown hair in a bowl cut. He generally wore his school uniform which was a white shirt with a blue sleeveless vest over it and khaki pants. Baba's physical appearance would not make anyone feel threatened. While he did not appear to be someone out of shape, he certainly did not have the appearance of someone who could put up a fight. If you looked at him, he would appear to be any ordinary high school student that was weak and helpless. However, while he might not physically appear to be a threat, he would definitely prove to be one after he created his machines.

/

**Ramerio Morales – **He is a Magician that is affiliated with the Magic organization known as "**Return of the Winged One**," which is based in Latin America. At some point in his organization's history, the Professor became aware of their existence, and he managed to work out deal with them. Return of the Winged One would station at least one Magician within his forces and provide him with magical objects to study, and he would provide them with secrets of Academy City to help them increase their influence and stand against any competing Magic groups.

He was happy to come to Academy City because he enjoyed the idea of potentially fighting new opponents. He always considered fighting to be a form of entertainment, and if he engaged in a fight it would be a fight to the death by default. The only times he will not fight to kill an adversary would be if he was given orders not to. There were plenty of missions that the Professor would send him on where that kind of attitude came in handy.

In addition to using magic, Ramerio preferred to use weapons in combat. As per tradition of his organization, he did not use metallic materials for his weapons. However, he did not need to use metal to make his weapons deadly. Ramerio used either obsidian or jade when constructing his weapons which proved to be more than strong enough to kill his enemies if he needed to.

The current appearance Ramerio was using had blue eyes, and he had a crew cut with dark hair. However, the appearance Ramerio was using was not his own. Ramerio was in fact mimicking another person's appearance by using a charm technique that was taught to him by another magician by the name of Etzali. He had previously killed a resident within Academy City who was a gang member, and he was certain no one would miss him. Afterwards, he took a sample of his victim's skin and created a charm, which allowed him to mimic the appearance of the owner's skin. As long as he kept these charms in his possession, Ramerio would be able to maintain this new appearance.

/

It was through the use of several of Baba's 'Mosquitoes' that the four of them were able to view this battle from various perspectives. They could see how the Devil was really pushing Jūhō, and all the destruction that their battle was causing. A few of Baba's Mosquito robots were destroyed as a result of either some of the stray blasts or the debris caused by them, much to Baba's chagrin.

Ramerio commented in a casual manner, "As usual, Jūhō is getting sloppy out there. I knew I should have been the one to go out there instead. He always makes a mess of things."

Baba responded in an exasperated tone, "Tell me about it. He already destroyed three of my mosquitoes. They not only took a lot of effort to create, but they cost me a fortune."

Ramerio then stated, "All he has accomplished is destroying half the rail yard. I swear all he is useful for is causing nothing but destruction and …"

The more Michiko was listening to those two, the more annoyed she was becoming. Her eyes narrowed and she began to clench her teeth as she told them both, "Shut up you two. Neither of you are in a position to criticize Jūhō."

Baba scoffed at Michiko as he replied, "Considering the fact he has destroyed my machines …"

Michiko interrupted Baba by stating, "I don't want to hear anymore about your damn machines you waste of space."

Baba was stunned to hear that insult as indicated by how wide his eyes were open after hearing that insult. He tried to make a combat by stating, "Now wait just a minute I …"

Michiko interrupted Baba once again, "Your machines may have their uses, but you always stay on the sidelines. I bet if you were forced to fight someone, you would faint just like you did when Jūhō first found you. It's because of him you are even still alive, so you have no right to criticize him."

Ramerio chuckled a little as he stated, "Well I have to agree with her."

Baba was stunned by what side Ramerio took as he asked in disbelief, "What?"

Ramerio spoke in a smug voice, "In terms of the battlefield, you are useless without your machines. It's no secret Jūhō and I aren't exactly friends. However, despite his destructive tendencies, I respect that he is capable of handling himself in the field. You on the other hand would only get in his way."

Baba gritted his teeth in anger, but he was unable to say a word. He had no rebuttal for what Ramerio or Michiko were stating. After all, it was true that his ability to fight was less than adequate without his machines to back him up, and he knew that he would never stand a chance against either of these two in a physical confrontation. Instead, he chose to simply keep his mouth shut, so he would not have to face anymore insults.

It would have been fine of Ramerio would have left it at that, but he went on to say, "That still doesn't change the fact that I should have been sent to take on the Devil of Academy City. I would have been much more effective in handling the Devil."

Michiko scoffed at Ramerio and stated, "You always talk a big game Ramerio, but I doubt you could defeat the opponents Jūhō has faced, including this one."

Ramerio displayed his overconfidence as he stated, "I can handle anything he can and so much more. Jūhō has caused all that destruction in that rail yard, and I doubt he is going to have anything to show for it in the end."

Michiko replied in disbelief, "Have you be watching the same footage I have been watching? It is quite clear the Devil isn't exactly a 'normal opponent' by any standards of either Science or Magic."

Ramerio asked, "So what?"

Michiko replied in an annoyed tone, "So? Jūhō probably knew that fighting the Devil would probably require a place that he would have more freedom to use his powers."

Ramerio sarcastically remarked, "A lot of good that is doing him."

Michiko stated, "Judging by the fact that neither one of them seem to be winning, it is probably doing some good. Besides, you've caused plenty of destruction with your powers before anyway, so who are you to judge."

Ramerio scoffed as he said, "Whatever. It's not like my powers ever caused that much destruction. If this was anyone else, I bet you would probably be agreeing with me."

Michiko angrily asked, "What's your point?"

Ramerio stated, "The only reason why you are acting like this is because you're just upset that your boyfriend might end up losing this fight."

Michiko did not deny that. Instead she said, "That's not the only reason why I'm worried about this. Even if he wins, the Anti-Skill will be all over that area, and he might not be able to get away."

Ramerio pointed out, "If you're so afraid of that, why don't you do something about it?"

After thinking for a few moments, Michiko replied, "You know what. I think that is exactly what I'm going to do." She then turned to the Professor and asked, "I assume there will be no objections from you."

The Professor who had remained silent and had been intensively watching the screens finally spoke up. "I have none. You can do what you want. I have no issue with you leaving. Based on how this fight is progressing, it will probably be over before you arrive. Even if it's not, the probability of you being able to affect it one way or the other is slim to none."

Michiko sarcastically stated, "Well that is nice to hear. So does that mean I'm the only one whose going then?"

Baba dismissively stated, "I'm not going. I would prefer to watch the fight from here. Besides, aren't I just a waste of space to you?"

Ramerio replied, "Don't look at me. I may enjoy fighting, but I don't butt into other people's battles. That is not the proper 'etiquette.' You are on your own."

Michiko did not mind the lack of assistance she would be getting from MEMBER as she stated, "I expected as much from you. I doubt that Jūhō would want your help anyway."

Ramerio shrugged his shoulders as he casually stated, "No argument there. The feeling is perfectly mutual."

Michiko grinned as she sarcastically replied, "That's good to hear." Michiko then ran out of the office towards the location of the battle between Jūhō and the Devil.

After Michiko had left, the Professor stated to Ramerio, "Regardless of whether Jūhō wins this fight Ramerio, we will still acquire the desirable data. In other words, Jūhō using his powers to the point where it caused this much damage will be beneficial to my wishes. Besides, I am the one who ordered Jūhō to go all out in this fight. The collateral damage that would be sustained as a result of it was to be expected."

Ramerio did not say anything further. The three of them remained silent for the remainder of Jūhō's fight with the Devil and continued to watch. By the time the fight was over, the Professor would have obtained valuable data thanks to the footage provided by the remaining robot Mosquitoes.

/

**Location: Academy City - School District 17 – Railway Cargo Area**

Jūhō was scanning the area for any signs of his opponent, but it was all for naught. His opponent was doing an excellent job avoiding his attention. Jūhō had both of his weapons ready for a possible surprise attack. Even with his helmet's capabilities, Jūhō did not have eyes in the back of his head. As he continued to scan the area, he continued to look over his shoulder to reduce the chances of a sneak attack.

While Jūhō was careful with checking the corners, he neglected to consider an aerial assault. Based on the situation, he did not think that was an option. Touma had paid attention to Jūhō's movements, and he climbed up on one of the containers as he waited for Jūhō to get close enough. As soon as Touma saw his opportunity, he leaped down.

At that moment, Jūhō heard a noise from above him and saw Touma falling down. Jūhō immediately pointed his gun and pulled the trigger, but he was only able to fire one shot that Touma was able to block with his Imagine Breaker. Before Jūhō could fire another fight, Touma used his legs to grab Jūhō's head, and he slammed Jūhō to the ground. Having his head slammed on the ground caused Jūhō's bell to be rung even though he was wearing that helmet.

While Jūhō was stunned, Touma grabbed the wire that was attached to one of Jūhō's guns and his right arm, and as Touma hoped, he heard the sound like shattering glass. It only took Jūhō a moment to recover, but it was too late. Jūhō attempted to use his powers again, but they did not activate. He immediately realized that Touma's apparent ability neutralizing technique was preventing him from activating his powers as he was touching the wire with his right hand.

If Touma would have touched Jūhō's body armor with his right hand, it might not have been enough to neutralize Jūhō's abilities. However, that wire is the connection between his weapon and the power within his body. It was his most vulnerable section. When Touma touched the wire, not only did it cut off the power within the wires, but due to the wire being directly connected to Jūhō's body, it led to the rest of his body being affected as well.

In addition to not being able to activate his abilities, Jūhō realized that something else about his body felt different as Touma's Imagine Breaker neutralized his abilities. He did not feel the energy actively coursing through his body. It felt like it once did before he had his powers activated and before they went out of control and the burning. However, as good as he felt, he was not in a position to enjoy this feeling.

Before Jūhō had a chance to get Touma off him, Touma used the gun he held in his left hand and pointed the gun at Jūhō's abdomen at point blank range and pulled the trigger. Due to Jūhō's armor being similar to a bulletproof vest, the bullet did not go through, but Jūhō could feel the impact of the bullet. The only difference was that the impact was less painful for Jūhō, and it would take a few more bullets to get through his armor.

Despite his armor, Jūhō thought to himself in a pained tone, _"Damn that hurt!"_

Touma thought, _"So one point-blank shot isn't enough. Let's see how it will hold up against several more shots."_ Touma proceeded to empty his entire clip at the same area. His instincts told him that if he kept firing in the same area, the bullet would eventually pierce Jūhō's armor, and this fight would be as good as over.

While the bullets did manage to harm Jūhō to an extent, he was not about to let Touma finish him off like this. With surprising flexibility, Jūhō managed to kick Touma in the face, and then he kicked Touma a second time to get him off. Touma was sent flying a few feet away, and his gun was knocked away. Touma and Jūhō managed to get up at the same time, and before Touma could retrieve his gun, Jūhō destroyed it with his energy blast, and then he pointed it at Touma ready to fire another blast.

Touma thought, _"Wataru and Jiro are going to be pissed about that."_ He then said to Jūhō in a somewhat surprised tone, "I didn't think you would be able to pull off a move like that."

Jūhō asked, "Did you really think that I would rely solely on my Esper abilities? I knew that there might be times when my abilities might not be useful in dealing with my opponents. That's why I made sure I would be prepared to handle such situations."

Touma responded, "Fair enough." Seeing that he no longer had his gun, this match would be much harder to win. However, Touma noticed, _"The armor in that section of his abdomen had definitely weakened. I can see it beginning to crack a little. I wonder if I can pierce through it using another means." _Touma briefly eyed the train spikes he had picked up earlier.

The two rivals were at a bit of stand-off. They could see that this fight was going to go either way, and the next few moves would determine the final outcome. It would only take a split-second move to end this fight, and they knew it. Both of them found it both frightening and exciting at the same time.

Touma decided to be the one to begin the final confrontation by charging at Jūhō. As he was charging Jūhō, he thought, _"All I need is an opening, and this will be over. I just need to find the right opportunity."_

As usual, Jūhō fired another energy blast, and Touma managed to unsurprisingly managed to block it with his Imagine Breaker. At this point firing energy blasts was all Jūhō was able to do because if he tried using a mortar attack again, he would be completely drained. Instead, Jūhō decided it was time to start using a different approach to fight Touma. He placed his guns back in their holsters and egged Touma to engage him in regular fisticuffs.

Touma thought, _"Perfect!"_ He cracked his knuckles as he readily accepted the challenge.

The two of them charged each other and began trading blows. They were on even ground with the both of them managing to block each other's punches and kicks. However, Jūhō had the advantage due to wearing his armor, and it was slightly more painful for Touma to block Jūhō's attacks rather than the other way around. Touma knew that he was going to need to find an opening quickly. Otherwise, he would be the one to lose this fight.

Touma decided that if an opening was not going to reveal itself, he would try to make one. In a split second, Touma pulled out one of the railroad spikes. Before Jūhō could realize what Touma pulled out, the two of them exchanged another punch, and Touma was able to cut Jūhō's hand. Touma was surprised that the gloves that Jūhō was wearing were not nearly as strong as the rest of his armor, but that did not matter at this moment. The surprise and pain Jūhō felt from that attack was enough to give Touma the opening he needed.

With his left fist, Touma proceeded to punch Jūhō twice in the face. As Touma expected, punching Jūhō in the face while he was wearing that helmet did hurt his hand. It felt like it nearly broke his knuckles, but that was not important. What was important was that Touma's punches were still enough to knock Jūhō off balance. While Jūhō's guard was down, Touma used the railroad spike he was holding in his right hand to break through the area of Jūhō's armor that Touma managed to weaken earlier. Within a few moments, the railroad spike was successful in breaking through Jūhō's armor and impaled him.

Upon the spike going through his armor, Jūhō gasped and had difficulty catching his breath. He had difficulty comprehending what had happened. Jūhō then looked down at where Touma had impaled him, and he could see blood on Touma's hands, and it was starting to slowly pour out of Jūhō's abdomen. Jūhō's eyes widened in horror because this was the first time in a long time that he had seen himself receive an injury like this. As he gazed upon this blood, his mind brought him back to the last time he had been injured like this.

/

In a second, several flashes of Jūhō's past raced across his mind. He could remember being surrounded by destruction. There were fires everywhere. People were either screaming in agony due to being horrifically injured, such as losing a limb and/or being burned alive, or they were lying dead on the ground. The surrounding area was stained in people's blood, and Jūhō looked in horror at exactly whose blood was within that tally.

Jūhō attempted to move towards the bodies lying on the ground, but he could not move. He had been so distracted by the sounds of other people's agony that he was unaware of his own. Jūhō's entire body hurt like hell. It felt as if something had ripped his skin apart, and every muscle he moved compounded the pain he felt. He could not even move his fingers without feeling some twitches of pain. Even looking around the area to see what was going on was enough to cause him agony.

He finally noticed a broken mirror nearby, and he gazed upon his reflection. When Jūhō looked at his reflection, he starred at it in disbelief. He tried to talk, but he was unable to. Instead he had to keep thinking to himself, _"This can't be me. That cannot be me. That does not even look like me, so why does it keep doing the same things I'm doing."_ After he was done denying, he then thought in horror, _"If that's me, then I'VE BECOME A MONSTER!"_

It only took a second for Jūhō to experience all of that. However, it would not be enough to stop him. He returned to reality, and he looked at the opponent that had just stabbed him with a railroad spike. Jūhō would not be surrendering just yet. At least, he would not be giving up while he still had some strength left.

/

For a moment, Touma thought this was the end, but it was not. Jūhō surprised Touma by punching him in the face. Then, Jūhō managed to land a kick in Touma's stomach that caused him to be sent to the ground clenching his stomach in pain. Jūhō attempted to follow up with another attack, but the stab wound made it difficult for him to attack again, which gave Touma more than enough time to recover.

With the spike removed, the blood started to pour out of Jūhō's body at a much faster rate. Jūhō attempted to put pressure on his wound while clenching his teeth. Unfortunately, Jūhō knew that he could not last much longer if this kept up. He wanted to keep fighting, but he knew that it would soon be impossible if he had to keep holding his injury like this.

As much as Touma did not like this scenario, Touma knew that this was his chance to take Jūhō down. If he let him get away, he might re-energize himself through using another electrical circuit, and everything he did so far might be undone. The moment to claim his victory was now, but Touma did not like how he was about to do it.

Touma got to his feet and charged at Jūhō again. He gave Jūhō a jump kick that Jūhō attempted to counter, but he was not fast enough. The kick connected to his head, and it caused Jūhō's world to go spinning. He was beginning to lose balance between the blood loss and being on the receiving end of this blow. Before Jūhō had a chance to recover, Touma grabbed Jūhō and threw him back first into the wall of a nearby shipping container. Jūhō proceeded to fall to the ground in a daze.

With Jūhō on the ground, Touma knew this was his chance to end the fight right here and now as he pulled out the other railroad spike he picked up earlier. Touma ran up to Jūhō and used one spike to pin Jūhō's left hand and other spike to pin Jūhō's right hand to the wall of the container. After committing this deed, both Touma and Jūhō could see blood leaving the holes formed from the spikes in his hands. It was a rather disturbing sight.

Jūhō did the best he could to prevent himself from screaming in pain. However, the feeling of having two spikes shoved through his hands was too much for him to contain. When his cries of pain finally did come out, they sounded like a wounded animal caught in a hunter's trap. Between being impaled in his abdomen and in both his hands, this was the first time Jūhō had felt so much pain since the day he let his powers get out of control several years earlier. However, this pain was still nothing in comparison to what happened then. When that incident happened, it not only caused him physical pain but emotional pain as well.

As Touma witnessed Jūhō's struggle and cries of pain, Touma's eyes were wide open in horror at what he had done. Touma looked at his hands that were covered in Jūhō's blood. He could not believe what he had just done in order to win this fight. Admittedly, it was true that he did not have too many options to obtain victory. If he had not done certain things, he would most likely have been killed. However, what really troubled him was how he felt when was committing that action.

When Touma did what he did, he truly felt like he had become a demon for a moment. For a few moments, he truly enjoyed seeing Jūhō's suffering when he impaled him those three times, and he was tempted to stab Jūhō again if it were not for his conscious finally regaining a hold on him. While it is true he did get satisfaction from punishing his other victims or opponents, he felt Jūhō was one opponent he should not enjoy the suffering of.

As Touma looked at his hands, he thought, _"I guess I truly am the Devil of Academy City." _He then turned his attention back to Jūhō's struggle.

While Touma looked upon his opponent who was struggling to overcome the pain that resulted from his actions, Touma could not help but feel horrible at what he had done to ensure his victory. He bitterly thought, _"This is probably the first time I have beaten an opponent when I do not feel the same satisfaction I normally would. He may have attempted to kill me, but unlike the others I defeated, I really don't think he deserves this. For someone who was probably the least evil opponent I have ever fought, I have probably given him a worse punishment than I have ever dealt to any of the others. This feels so wrong."_

/

After a few moments had passed, Jūhō was over the initial pain of having both his hands pined to a shipping container with railroad spikes, he struggled to say, "Okay … you win."

Needless to say, hearing his opponent say that did not give Touma the satisfaction he would usually get out of this. "This doesn't really feel like a victory."

When Jūhō heard Touma say that to him, he felt rather insulted. Jūhō angrily struggled to reply, "Don't say that! Don't you … ever say that! It's an insult!" Touma was taken aback as Jūhō said that. Jūhō then stated, "You managed to defeat me … and that is that. Take pride in … your victory."

Touma did not know what he could say to Jūhō after hearing that. After a few moments had passed, Jūhō was more able to talk without struggle, so he asked, "Tell me something Devil of Academy City, what do you fight for?"

That question caught Touma off-guard as he asked, "What?"

Jūhō asked again in a demanding voice, "What are you fighting for?"

Touma then responded, "Since you lost, why don't you answer that question for me first. Then I will tell you my answer."

Jūhō answered in a dissatisfied tone, "Fine. I fight to pay back a life debt to someone. That is the reason why I fight and do these things."

Touma raised his eyebrow as he questioned Jūhō, "Is that really all there is too it?"

Jūhō reaffirmed his answer by answering in a somewhat angered voice, "Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

Touma answered in a tone that was a mixture of uncertainty, sadness, and anger, "No not exactly, but I think it doesn't really give you the resolve you need to fight someone like me."

Jūhō asked in a pissed off voice, "What do you mean?"

Touma answered Jūhō's question by asking another question of his own. "Do you have a goal for yourself that you wish to accomplish besides paying back this debt?"

There was silence in the area for a few moments as Jūhō did not answer that question. However, his silence was the only answer that Touma needed. It was more than enough to confirm that Jūhō was not fighting for anything else.

After Touma had his 'confirmation' he responded, "I didn't think so. Fighting to pay back your debt has been your sole motivation hasn't it?"

Jūhō answered, "Everything I have done has been for the sake of the Professor. Fighting for anything else has never been my priority."

Touma was not certain about how he should be reacting to someone like this. When Jūhō told Touma that he was fighting to pay back a 'life debt,' it reminded Touma of how he was saved by Wataru and Komaba in the Child Error incident. How they not only saved his life, but they ensured the Espers who attacked the facility were given their comeuppance. He felt that by itself was enough to make him indebted to those two for the rest of his life. However, they did not want him to be their servant. They were reluctant for him to become their subordinate, but they accepted him because of his determination, and the fact he had more than one thing to fight for.

When Touma thought about that, he could see a part of himself in Jūhō. The more he talked to Jūhō, the more Touma felt that this was something he could have become if he did not have Wataru, Konori, Komaba, or the rest of Big Spider. Touma could not help but wonder if he could have become like Jūhō if anyone else had taken him in after the Child Error incident besides the Big Spider. If someone else had taken him in, there was a chance that they could have taken advantage of him, and used him like any other pawn. As Touma continued to speak to Jūhō, he could see what could have happened to him had happened to Jūhō. It disturbed him to no end that he could have been like this.

Despite what he was thinking, Touma told Jūhō, "Then that is the difference between you and me. While I do feel indebted to a number of people and I fight for them like you do for this 'Professor,' I am also fighting for my own goals."

Jūhō started to become less angry and a little more curious as he asked, "What goals are they?"

Touma responded in a firm voice, "I want revenge, and I want to stop others from abusing those weaker than others." Jūhō was rather surprised by how straight forward his opponent was in terms of his 'goals.' Touma then went on to state, "I don't care if these offenders have Esper abilities or not. Either way those types of people are no friends of mine. If I am able to, I will make sure they receive their rightful punishment."

Jūhō scoffed at Touma words by stating, "Well don't you sound high and mighty."

Touma responded, "Maybe I do sound that way, but …"

Jūhō interrupted Touma, "You definitely sound that way, but I guess that is one thing that makes us similar in a way. I get a sense of satisfaction of eliminating those that would harm innocent civilians too. The only two real differences between us are you want to achieve this 'revenge' of yours and you stop at beating your victims to a bloody pulp while I'm fine with getting my hands dirty with their blood." Based on what Jūhō had told Touma earlier, Touma was not surprised that Jūhō had killed his fair share of people in the past, and he remained silent as Jūhō continued to state, "I can see you are having trouble with my blood being on your hands, which means you still have a little bit of 'conscientious' in you."

"So you really have killed people?" Touma may have phrased that as a question, but he knew what Jūhō's answer would be.

"Why should that surprise you? After all, I tried to kill you a few minutes ago. The only reason you are still alive is because of that right hand of yours. Besides you, most of the people I targeted had it coming. They were asshole victims at best." The tone that Jūhō used to answer that question indicated that he had no remorse for his actions.

Touma could tell that Jūhō had no regrets with the crimes he had committed which started to make him feel disgusted as he asked, "Even so, what gives you the right to kill others?"

Instead of answering Touma's question, Jūhō asked, "Do you think the fact you don't kill others makes you better than me?"

Touma responded in a bitter tone, "Maybe. Maybe it does."

Jūhō smiled underneath his helmet as he stated, "I like the fact you answered the honestly. I know that others might not be so willing to answer that quesiton with such 'sincerity.'" There was a few moments of silence between Touma and Jūhō as they starred at each other with great intensity. Jūhō then stated in a somewhat defeated tone, "Perhaps you are better than me. After all, whether they were truly evil or not, I still killed them, and you refuse to kill anyone. However, I guess we may never really know for sure whose the 'better' man. However, I bet most people would still label you as the 'hero' and me as the 'villain.'"

Touma admitted out loud, "I never said I was a hero. I can never be a hero." Normally, that would have been something Touma would have said only to himself, but he could not keep it to himself this time.

Jūhō smirked underneath his helmet as he stated in a sincere tone, "I have to really give you points for your honesty. When we met, I had a feeling there was something that I liked about you." Touma did not respond to Jūhō's compliment, so Jūhō asked, "To satisfy my curiosity, why do you think that you're not a hero."

Touma took a breath as he stated, "The answer is not really something that I can put into words. I just have this feeling inside me, and it tells me that I'm no hero."

Jūhō shrugged at Touma's answer with, "Fair enough."

However, Touma surprised Jūhō by adding something optimistic to his answer. "However, my friends are the reason why I won't become a villain. As long as they are around, I know that I will never become one."

Jūhō was surprised by what Touma had said. Even though Touma could not see what Jūhō's face was like underneath his helmet, Touma could tell by Jūhō's body language that he was genuinely surprised. Jūhō asked in an questioning tone, "Do you really value your friends that much?"

Touma nodded as he responded with, "Yes. Similar to your 'Professor,' I owe them my life in more ways than one. However, even though I owe them, they are not the only reason I fight. By fighting for myself and for them, I am able to continue moving forward and make progress. When we work together, we are able to accomplish much more."

Upon hearing Jūhō could not help but think about Michiko. After she joined MEMBER, he could not help but admit to himself that he has felt a 'little' happier with her around. She has also helped him in certain aspects of the job as well.

After thinking about it, Jūhō stated, "I think I understand what you are saying Touma. You make a valid point. However, you should also keep this in mind. In this world, there are things that can still overwhelm you despite any kind of support you have. If you are not careful, the Darkness of Academy City will still swallow you."

Touma nodded as he stated in a somewhat confident voice, "When that time comes, I will be ready for what will happen."

Jūhō warned Touma, "For your sake and theirs, you better be."

Touma nodded in acknowledgement as he turned to leave. However, before he could leave the area, Jūhō called out to him one last time, "Before you leave Touma, I think there is one last thing I would like to ask you." Touma turned around as Jūhō asked, "Were you the one who originally defeated all those wannabee Espers who referred to themselves as your 'representatives'?"

He answered Jūhō's question with, "They weren't any representatives of me, and I was not alone in defeating them. It would not have been possible if my fellow members of Big Spider didn't help me."

Jūhō replied, "I see. It's good to know you are willing to give credit when it's due."

Touma wanted to know if there was a point to this as he asked, "Is there a reason why you brought that up?"

Jūhō answered, "Yes. I figured I would like to give you this bit of information while I still can as a reward for defeating me."

Touma asked in an interested tone, "What is it?"

Jūhō asked, "You know how the transportation bus that was delivering them to the medical and detention facilities was destroyed while it was on route to them?"

Touma was not sure he liked where this was going as he responded, "Yeah why?"

Jūhō finally got to the point as he answered, "I figured you should know that I'm the one who destroyed it."

Touma's eyes opened wide in shock as he responded in a mixture of anger and fear, "You what?"

Jūhō explained, "I was given a job to destroy the bus and make sure I didn't kill the Anti-Skill driving the bus."

Upon hearing those words, Touma's eyes changed from being eyes of shock to being filled with fury. He may not have thought the people Jūhō killed were asshole victims at best, but he was angered by the fact this person had killed other human beings. Touma angrily demanded to know, "Why would you take on a job like that?"

Jūhō chuckled as he told Touma, "You think you know the 'darkness' of Academy City? You have barely even scratched the surface of this world my friend. You can believe that."

Touma tried to quell his fury. He knew that continuing a debate like this would not accomplish anything, so he asked, "In that case, who gave you that job?"

Jūhō replied, "It was someone who went by the name of Kihara?"

Touma's anger had entirely been replaced by shock and surprise. "…Did you just say Kihara?"

Jūhō answered as Touma remained silent, "Yes. They were very desperate to ensure that none of those gang members lived to see another day or at the very least there was not a trace of their existence left on this earth. Something tells me that they must have been afraid of something based on the urgency of the assignment."

This allowed Touma to finally gain a grasp on what happened after the operation as he stated, "They probably wanted you to destroy the evidence of 'Beta-Zero,' so they could delay its existence becoming known to the public."

Jūhō replied, "Beta-Zero? So I guess it really is more than a mere rumor. Although, I guess I really shouldn't be surprised."

Touma asked Jūhō in a demanding voice, "Do you know anything about the Kiharas?"

Jūhō could see how much Touma wanted to know more about these 'Kiharas' and since Jūhō had no love for them, he had no issue with telling Touma what he knew. "Most of my knowledge of them is secondhand. My employer, the Professor, has told me everything I need to know about them, and I have only met a few of them personally. However, I know the ones I met are not likely the ones with any real influence. However, based on what I have seen, they more or less confirmed a few of the things the Professor has told me. If the rest of what the Professor told me about them is even remotely legitimate, then you can expect nothing but trouble from them."

Touma asked in a disappointed tone, "So you wouldn't know how to find them?"

Jūhō answered, "Not at all." Touma could tell by Jūhō's tone that he was telling the truth. When Jūhō's saw the look of disappointment in Touma's face after he said that, Jūhō asked, "Am I correct in assuming you and the Kiharas have a history? If you do, it wouldn't surprise me considering their shady history."

Touma reluctantly replied, "You can say that. I have a real score I need to settle with them. I don't plan on stopping until they receive the full payment for their actions."

Jūhō warned Touma, "If you are looking for the Kihara's, I have a feeling they probably already know that you are looking for them already."

Touma asked, "What do you mean?"

Jūhō explained, "These scientists may not be 'all knowing,' so they might not necessarily know where you are, but they are the type to make preparations for the ones that do attempt to find them. They know full well that their experiments piss off a lot of people who would like to see them dead."

Touma brushed it off by stating, "Knowing what kind of place Academy City really is, this kind of information doesn't seem out of the blue to me in the least."

Jūhō replied, "It shouldn't. The Professor has given me the general description of them having a 'few screws loose,' and the ones I have met more or less confirmed that. However, the Professor has told me that those people are nothing in comparison to what the 'real' Kihara's are truly like."

Touma sarcastically stated, "You certainly have had quite a colorful life."

Jūhō replied in a mocking tone, "Don't act too shocked Devil. Being a member of the underground has its perks. When you are in this position, you are able to personally meet some of the true trash of Academy City that the public is blissfully unaware of."

There was one last moment of silence between these two before Jūhō gave Touma his final warning, "Here is one thing you should keep in mind when you are looking for them. Don't go alone because you can expect it to be a trap. If you go alone, you can expect to die long before you ever make it to them."

Touma stated, "I never planned to go alone in the first place."

"In that case, you may have a chance." Jūhō laughed a little before he then stated in an ominous voice, "Good luck. You're going to need it."

Touma did not respond to what Jūhō said and turned to leave. It was the silent farewell of two people who were enemies, but who could have become friends under different circumstances. Because of what happened in their pasts that led to their current positions, the possibility of them becoming friends would remain out of their grasp. Instead, they would be doomed to follow their separate paths that would keep them opposing sides.

/

After Touma left the area, Kyuzo met up with him. Kyuzo did not congratulate Touma on his victory. He was not the type of person to do that, and he could see that Touma would not be in the mood for that even if he did. Instead, Kyuzo decided to discuss about what happened as they continued walking back to the Big Spider headquarters.

Kyuzo thought back on his past as he informed Touma, "I knew Jūhō before he put on that outfit and went by that codename." Kyuzo's voice had a slight hint of sadness as he told Touma about Jūhō. "I remember many things about him, such as what kind of person he was, what he looked like, what his original name was, and the fact he loved to eat apples. However, as far as I can tell, he wants to avoid taking off that armor except for specific circumstances. He does have good reasons to keep it on of course."

Touma had been listening intently to what Kyuzo was saying before he asked, "Why does he wear the outfit now?"

Kyuzo replied, "He definitely does not wear that armor as a fashion statement. While he may want to wear it as protection, he wears it for two reasons. The first reason, I think he enjoys wearing because he can to avoid looking at himself in the mirror."

Touma was not sure if he really wanted to know, but he knew that he probably needed to know, so he asked, "What is the second?"

Kyuzo sighed before he reluectantly, "That armor is probably the reason he has been able to live this long. Without it, I think he would most likely die by either the elements or the pain he would feel if he left the suit for a prolonged period of time."

Touma raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing that last part. He asked, "Did something happen to him?"

Kyuzo clearly did not want to talk about it in detail, but he knew the meaning of what he needed to say would be lost without details. He answered, "It was more than 'something.' There was an incident that happened after he obtained his powers and failed to control them properly. His skin was horrifically burned after the explosion. If it wasn't for the armor, he might not be able to move properly because his skin would leave him in constant pain otherwise."

Touma asked, "Can you tell me more about the incident?"

Kyuzo grimly explained, "That incident resulted in a massive explosion that killed numerous people and maimed numerous others. He tries not to show it, but his guilt for the lives he accidentally took that day has remained etched in his mind."

Touma eyes widened in shock briefly before stating, "I see. I could only imagine how devastating that incident must have been for him."

Kyuzo calmly stated, "Indeed. I think he is grateful that he needs to wear that armor a majority of the time because not only does it help keep him stay alive, but it prevents him from being able to see all the scars on his body that would be his constant reminder of what he had done."

Touma decided to ask Kyuzo, "Does Jūhō view his scars similar to how you view most of your own scars?"

Kyuzo was silent for a moment before he reluctantly began to answer Touma's question. He told Touma, "In a way yes, but there is a major difference between my scars and his. The scars on my body can be called the 'legacy of a misspent youth.' In Jūhō's case, his scars are the result of 'one unfortunate mistake.' I bet even if he didn't receive all those scars on his body, he probably wouldn't want to look himself in the mirror without his helmet on." Touma remained silent as Kyuzo continued the story, "He thought everything was going well until he received a rather 'belated warning.' When he realized what was happening, he was unable to stop it before it was all over. It was a tragedy that he failed to prevent when he was hoping that he could use his power to help prevent such tragedies. Jūhō lost a lot on that day, and he believes that he does not have the right to refer to himself by his original name either. When I have called him by his original name in the past, he insists on being referred to as Jūhō."

Touma was at a loss for words for a few moments before he could finally say, "I see. In that case, did this 'Professor' of his do something to stop him from recreating this tragedy?"

Kyuzo answered, "Yes. Those wires attached to his veins prevent his powers from becoming unstable and allows him to control them much easier. Now the only people he kills are those that he is either ordered to kill or wants to kill. He does not have to worry about hurting innocent bystanders because of his powers due to that limiter."

The thought of something like that happening to himself disgusted Touma as he looked at his own arms to imagine what it would be like if wires were connected to his veins. "That cannot be very pleasant for him."

Kyuzo scratched the back of his head as he stated, "It isn't, but he probably thinks he is getting off easy in this life."

It was becoming more difficult for Touma to swallow this information. "I can't picture what must go through his head if he thinks being burned and needing wires in his veins is him getting off easy. Knowing this kind of makes me think …"

Before Touma could complete his thought, Kyuzo interrupted him by stating, "If you are feeling bad for what you did to him, you should put those thoughts out of your head. Jūhō knows the risks of working with scum like the Professor. Besides, the injuries you gave him are probably nothing compared to the injuries he has given himself."

Touma still had a regretful look on his face, but he reluctantly accepted what Kyuzo was saying. "I guess you are right. After all, I guess it should not be too much of a surprise if something like that eventually happens to me."

Kyuzo did not hesitate to state, "Yes. In this life, you should not try to act surprised if something like this happens to you if you are not careful. The odds of survival in this world are next to zero unless you keep your guard up. Never forget that because if you give your enemy the opportunity, it may cost you your life someday."

Touma nodded and said, "To be honest, as much as I don't want it to happen, I know that will probably end up being my fate. One of these days, someone that I cross paths with will probably kill me someday. Sometimes, I feel like every time I defeat another opponent, I'm just one opponent closer to the one that will finally defeat me."

Kyuzo told Touma, "If you think that, perhaps it would be a good idea for you to start taking care of any unfinished business you might have. Is there anything you wish to do before you meet this 'final' opponent of yours?"

Touma did not respond right away before reluctantly answering, "There are a few things that I feel like I need to do."

Kyuzo stated, "If that is the case, you should start taking care of them now."

Touma thought about it for a few moments. There was one thing in particular he has felt like he needed to do before something like that could happen. It had been something that was in the back of his mind for over two years now, but he did not have the courage to do anything about it. However, now that his near death experiences had become more reoccurring, he believed that perhaps this was something that he could not put off any longer.

Touma sighed and told Kyuzo, "All right. It looks like we might need to make some preparations before I do that." Touma looked at his mask again before putting it back on.

Before Touma and Kyuzo would take care of anything on Touma's 'to-do list,' the two of them would need to return to the Big Spider Headquarters. As Touma and Kyuzo left the rail yard, they could hear the Anti-Skill sirens. Once again, the Anti-Skills were conveniently too late to witness what truly happened. However, he knew that after what he did to Jūhō, it would take a miracle for them not to find him. Touma could not help but wonder what would become of Jūhō when the Anti-Skill found him.

/

While Touma and Kyuzo were on their way back to the Big Spider headquarters, Jūhō awaited his own fate. As much as he wanted to break free, he knew that he was unable to. The pain of being pinned to this container was becoming harder for him to bear. It was becoming more difficult for him to breathe properly. At this point, he was not sure if it was due to the blood loss, the pain, or a mixture of both. Instead of attempting to break free which would add to his pain, Jūhō remained motionless on the ground with his hands painfully pinned to the wall. Eventually, he could hear the sirens of the Anti-Skill approaching.

He thought in a bitter voice, _"So you are finally arriving huh? I never thought I would be on the receiving end of this."_

This would be one of the first times he would be this close to Anti-Skills. A majority of the time, there would be cleanup crews to 'erase' the fact he even committed certain crimes. It was as if he did not exist, which he sort of wished was true sometimes. Even if the Anti-Skill were ever called into action, he was usually long gone. They would have no way of tracking him, and there was nothing to connect him to any crime he committed.

Unfortunately for Jūhō, with his hands still pinned to the container, he was going nowhere, and there was nothing he could do to escape on his own. However, the idea of being captured by Anti-Skill did frighten Jūhō a little. Past experience had shown him how less than pleasant some 'authority figures' were. He knew that this would not be much better.

Out of desperation, Jūhō struggled one last time to break free. However, he lacked the energy to do so, and he could not grab his guns or activate his powers like this. The only thing he could do was take a deep breath and close his eyes. He could only accept the fact that the Anti-Skill would finally be seeing him up close and personal. They would be the ones to determine his fate, so he took a deep breath to prepare himself for what was to come.

A few minutes later, two Anti-Skill members found him. Despite the fact his hands were pinned, these Anti-Skill's cautiously approached with their guns pointed at him. One of them was about to call for back-up to their location before both of them were struck in the head by what appeared to be a long poll. Jūhō's eyes were wide open at who appeared before him, and he would not admit he was happy to see this person.

The person that had rendered the two Anti-Skills unconscious was none other his self-proclaimed partner Michiko. As soon as she took out the Anti-Skills she immediately rushed to his side. The look on her face was nothing like he had ever seen. She did not even have this look on her face when they had first met, and it was a less than pleasant experience for her. The people who he saved her from did not have the best of intentions for her, but even then she was calm.

It was in this moment that Jūhō could see that Michiko's eyes were widened in horror. It seemed as if she was fighting the urge to cry. He could see that her body was trembling at the mere sight of him. She appeared like she wanted to say something, but seeing Jūhō in such a state robbed her of any words that she would have wanted to say to him. Instead, she ran straight up to him, and she placed her hand right in front of where Touma stabbed him in the abdomen.

She then chanted in a rushed voice, "I call upon the name, _**Chiryo-shi24**_. With this healing power please mend this man's wound."

As she was healing him, he sarcastically remarked, "Well Michiko, I take it that you are not here to eliminate me for my failure."

Michiko stated in a choked voice, "Of course not. The Professor would never order you of all people to be eliminated. You are too valuable for him to lose. Besides, even if he did order me to kill you, I would not follow it. I could never follow it. That would be the day I quit MEMBER and take my chances elsewhere."

While Jūhō was not surprised, he still asked, "As flattered as I am to hear that, why would you disobey your orders so readily?"

Michiko answered in a matter of fact tone, "You should know that answer better than anyone. My loyalties are to you and not to MEMBER. As you told me before, life debts are not easily erased." She grabbed one of the railroad spikes that had him pinned down as she told him, "Now let's get out of here."

After a few seconds, Michiko was successful in removing both of the railroad spikes that pinned Jūhō's hands to the container. However, despite regaining his freedom and his stomach wound being partially healed, Michiko could see that Jūhō was still in no condition to move on his own for very long. Even if he did get to his feet, he would most likely collapse before they could get away. Instead Michiko opted for another approach.

Michiko attempted to pick Jūhō up before he had a chance to say a word of protest. Much to Jūhō's surprise, Michiko managed to lift him up over her shoulders. Despite his body weight and his armor, she did not appear to have any difficultly carrying him. After she gained a stronger sense of footing, she began to slowly make their escape out of the decimated rail yard. The progress they made was slow, but it seemed like they were going to make it.

Even though his helmet prevented her from seeing his face, she knew that he would be surprised by this turn of events. She told him with a playful smirk, "Try not to act too surprised Jūhō. Don't forget that even though I may not have offensive magic, I still trained my body to wield my Yari. However, I did not stop there. I made sure that I would have more than enough body strength to carry my comrades to safety back in the Amuska. After I joined MEMBER, I made sure that I would become strong enough to lift you in case you ever needed my help."

Jūhō remained silent as Michiko continued to carry him to safety. There were a few times she had to put him down, so she could knock out several Anti-Skills who got in their way. It was a little difficult for her to keep picking Jūhō up again to carry him again, but she was able to handle it. After a few minutes, the two of them were in the clear, and they put some distance from the closest Anti-Skill unit.

As soon as they were in a safe spot, Michiko began to heal Jūhō's other injuries. She chanted, "I call upon the name, _**Chiryo-shi24**_. With this healing power please mend this man's injuries." Once again, strange energy began to manifest itself on Michiko's hands as she placed them to heal some of Jūhō's injuries. She divided her focus on further healing the wound in his abdomen and the holes in his hands. Thanks to her magic, the holes were beginning to close, and he was beginning to feel better again.

Even though Michiko was healing Jūhō's injuries with her magic, Jūhō would still need to receive medical attention. While her magic was useful, it was not an all powerful art that could completely heal a person with serious injuries like this in a short period of time. However, what she was doing would reduce Jūhō's pain, and he would recover much faster. Unfortunately, he would still be out of action for a while. Michiko would remain by his side until he was battle ready again.

As Michiko was healing Jūhō, his breathing became steadier, and he was able to tell her, "Michiko … thank you." The weight of everything that happened that day had caused Jūhō to lose consciousness.

Michiko smiled as she happily told him, "I'm happy to do it, and I always will."

They remained in this area until Michiko finished healing him. The next time Jūhō would wake up, he would be in MEMBER's infirmary with Michiko by his side. He would be getting a break from the action for a while, but it would not be quite the break he had been hoping for.

/

**Location: MEMBER Headquarters – The Professor's Office**

After witnessing Jūhō's defeat, the Professor did not appear to show any concern over what had happened to Jūhō. It was unknown if it was because he was truly cold-hearted or the fact he knew that Michiko would be there to save him, so there was no need to show concern. Either way, Jūhō was not his priority at this point. Instead, he reviewed the footage of the battle between Jūhō and Touma courtesy of Baba's Mosquito machines.

As he was reviewing the footage, he made a few observations and made his analysis. He told Baba and Ramerio in a matter of fact tone, "It would appear that there are numerous limitations to what the Devil is capable of negating."

Baba was not as observant as the Professor, so he asked in an uncertain voice, "What do you mean?"

The Professor did not turn to face his audience and continued to gaze upon the screens. He explained, "One of them would be the fact the Devil only seems to be capable of negating energy that he is able to touch. As you may have noticed when Jūhō used his mortar attack, the Devil did not attempt to negate them as they came raining down on him. If he could negate energy blasts from a distance he would not have needed to dodge them as desperately as he did."

As interesting as that was, Ramerio knew there was more to it, so he inquired further. "You said that was one of them. Did you notice anything else?"

The Professor appreciated the fact his 'audience' was paying attention. "Indeed. He is incapable of negating the backlash of a successful attack or the existence of physical objects with his Imagine Breaker. During the times when the Devil dodged Jūhō's attacks, he was still affected by the wide range effects his attacks had even though he dodged the brunt of it. Additionally, he could do nothing about the debris that nearly crushed him either. This means he is just as vulnerable to certain things as normal people are. However, that is not even the best part."

Both Baba and Ramerio were getting a little excited to hear more as Ramerio asked, "What's the best part?"

The Professor then started to play one of the videos in slow motion and stated, "As I observed from this video, even when he touches the Esper Energy, it does not get negated right away. It only appears that way during the fighting, but in reality there is actually a 'delay' between his Imagine Breaker touching the Esper Energy and when it is negated."

Baba asked in an eager voice, "How long is the delay?"

The Professor answered, "It takes slightly over a second or so for the energy to be completely negated. This means if there was a higher degree of energy continuously attacking him at a high quantity, then it might be enough to overwhelm his Imagine Breaker."

Baba asked in a curious voice, "Do you have something in mind?"

The Professor grinned as he pondered over this, "Not at this time. Although, I am certain I will come up with something in the future. In the meantime, I think it is almost time to conduct a new experiment."

Ramerio asked in a quizzical voice, "What kind of new experiment?"

The Professor: "If Esper abilities do not seem capable of defeating this 'Devil of Academy City,' it might be time to see whether or not a 'nonscientific' opponent can be enough to take him down instead. I am certain that is right up your alley Ramerio."

Ramerio could see where the Professor was going with this as he responded with a smirk, "I know exactly what you mean Professor. I will be sure to give this Devil the fight of his life when the time comes." Suddenly there was a pair of kusarigamas summoned in his hands. He stated in a dark voice, "It'll be a fight of a lifetime."

/

**Location: Outside Yomikawa Aiho's Apartment**

Several hours after Touma defeated Jūhō, Touma found himself in front of the apartment of the Anti-Skill known as Yomikawa Aiho. After Touma's battle with Jūhō, Touma felt as if he had managed to catch a lucky break to get out of that battle alive. That fight was much different from any other fight he had engaged in before, and it made it clear to Touma that it might be only a matter of time before someone would eliminate him. He decided to take Kyuzo's advice by starting to take care of things that were on his 'to-do list' before he could face an opponent that might do him in.

Touma was going to thank Yomikawa Aiho, the person who had previously saved him and his friends as children and escorted them home. Her good nature did not end there. In the aftermath of the Child Error incident, she made the funeral arrangements for his friends in the Child Error facility, Ai included. As much as Touma wanted to believe in her, a part of him feared that she was one of the people in on it. He had used the free-lance spy Tsumikado to look up information on her, and she appeared not to have connections to the Darkness of Academy City. It made Touma feel relieved that despite everything, Yomikawa appeared to be someone that the city could really use. He saw her parking her car, and he knew he needed to be ready.

As with numerous other Anti-Skills, Yomikawa was sent to the rail yard in the aftermath of Jūhō and Touma's battle. To say that the entire area was a disaster would be putting it lightly. There were craters in the ground, rails were ripped apart, containers were destroyed, and even a crane was toppled over. If Yomikawa did not know any better, she would have thought a war was fought there rather than it being the result of a fight between Espers. The cost of rebuilding this area would be staggering. It was fortunate that no one had been caught up in whatever happened there.

Supposedly, a few of her fellow Anti-Skills had found someone wearing armor pinned to one of the containers. However, before they could question him, they were knocked unconscious. Several of her other fellow Anti-Skills reported that they were defeated by a teenage girl who had long dark brown hair that was worn in pigtails. By the time they had regained consciousness, the girl and the person wearing armor were long gone.

Needless to say, this was a frustrating day for Yomikawa. Once again the Anti-Skill 'arrived too late to witness what truly happened. Not only that, when they found someone who might have been able to provide answers, that person was rescued by another. It seemed as if that despite everything that she tried to do was never enough to be able to learn the whole story or fulfill her role to protect the people.

When she first came to Academy City, she had always tried to be idealistic about what role she could play whether it was to help high school students as a teacher or protect the civilians as an Anti-Skill. However, as much as Yomikawa enjoyed working as an Anti-Skill to serve the public and help those she could, she was had seen how much the Anti-Skill were unable to do. Between failing to save the Child Errors over two years ago to finding out that a vigilante was doing a better job saving people's lives than them, it was becoming disheartening for her.

Yomikawa was not the only Anti-Skill who had noticed and become frustrated with the organization's limitations or rather lack of attempts to improve. She also noticed that her fellow Anti-Skills Teshio Megumi and Akiyama Ichirou had become disillusioned. Teshio had left the force, and Yomikawa had no idea what happened to her afterwards. Ichirou continued to do his job, but she could tell that his frustration was becoming more visible. However, he proved to be someone that she could talk to in certain situations, such as the aftermath of the recent incident at the mall. He was probably the only one that would have listened to her because she knew a few too many Anti-Skills were too stubborn to listen.

Unlike other Anti-Skills who were too stubborn to acknowledge the Devil's existence, Yomikawa knew that he was real. She believed all the witness reports, and she believed that what he was attempting to do what he thought was right. He was saving people's lives, and he was helping aid the arrest of numerous dangerous criminals, who either had Esper abilities or did not have any. As long as his target was threatening someone, he would take that culprit down, and he would make sure the culprit would be captured.

There was a part of her that would not mind letting the Devil run free if it meant that he could save lives. She was almost willing to suggest trying to reach out to him, but she knew that was something she could not do. Yomikawa knew that it was her duty to catch the Devil regardless of his intentions. After all, it was not unusual for vigilantes to become dangerous to more than the criminals. Yomikawa wanted to believe that this one could be different, but she knew that she could not afford to let him walk around free.

As Yomikawa parked her car, she thought, _"The more I think about it, the more I'm certain that this 'Devil of Academy City' was somehow involved in this. Although, I'm not really sure how he could have been involved in that incident? None of the people I interviewed during his previous appearances indicated that he had abilities capable of leveling an entire area."_ Yomikawa continued to ponder what could have happened as she came to her own conclusion._ "Was it that he was fighting someone with those capabilities? Did he fight that person in the rail yard because it was unlikely people would be there during the fight?" _

Before Yomikawa could enter her apartment, she heard an ominous voice, "It sounds like you have had a busy day today."

As soon as she heard the voice, Yomikawa looked around and asked in a calm but demanding voice, "Who's there? Show yourself." Her voice did not indicate she was afraid. Due to her training as an Anti-Skill, she was not frightened easily. If anything, she would have had more luck frightening the person that was scoping her out.

The voice calmly stated, "Of course." He walked out of the shadows into her view. It was Touma donning one of the masks he used as the 'Devil of Academy City.' He told her, "It is no one you have to be afraid of."

As soon as Yomikawa saw him, she smirked and sarcastically remarked, "Well your mask tells me differently."

Touma responded, "I apologize for the mask, but it would be foolish of me to talk to you without wearing it."

Yomikawa asked in an inquisitive tone, "Afraid I'll know who you are?"

Touma decided it would be for the best to change the subject by asking, "So how has the cleanup of the rail yard going? I heard it became quite mess today. Was anyone hurt?"

Yomikawa replied in a somewhat annoyed tone, "What's it to you?"

Touma answered, "Well it's important to know whether or not someone was hurt or not."

It did not take much for Yomikawa figured out what this stranger was getting at. She then asked, "You were responsible for what happened?"

Touma replied, "Not me. The one I was fighting was the one who caused the damage. I take it you apprehended him after I left him there."

Yomikawa responded, "Sorry to disappoint you, but your 'friend' got away."

"What?" The surprise tone in Touma's voice was noticeable to Yomikawa.

Yomikawa explained, "Some of my fellow Anti-Skills found someone in armor, but they were knocked unconscious before they could arrest him. When they woke up, he was long gone. Apparently, some girl knocked not only them out but anyone who go in her way to save him. Obviously, you wouldn't be affiliated with them."

Touma thought, _"Once again the Anti-Skill are unable to properly secure the people I leave for them, but I guess I can't really blame this on Yomikawa. Something tells me those other Anti-Skill are far less competent than her."_ Touma's assumption was not far from the truth.

While Touma was silent and contemplating what Yomikawa was saying, he noticed that she appeared to be reaching for her gun. He told her in a threatening voice, "Don't even think about it Yomikawa-san." Touma pulled out his own gun and pointed it at Yomikawa. He had no intention of shooting her, but he needed to make it clear to her that he was not going to let her capture him. He said in a demanding voice, "Put your hands in the air where I can see them."

Yomikawa did as she was told, but she was not afraid of having the gun pointed at her. She asked in a voice that had no fear, "So Devil of Academy City, are you going to shoot me or what?"

Touma smiled under his mask as he responded, "I see that you figured out who I am."

Yomikawa was still un-intimidated by the gun pointed at her as she explained, "You may wear different masks, but I know your trademark through all the witnesses that I have interviewed. Other members of the Anti-Skill might not want to acknowledge your existence, but I have always believed you were real."

Touma complimented Yomikawa in a roundabout way, "Well that puts you light years ahead of your fellow Anti-Skill then." Yomikawa did not bother to counter since she was well aware of the ineffectiveness of the Anti-Skill. Touma then changed his way of speaking to a slightly more affable tone, "To answer your question, I have no intention of harming you Yomikawa-san. You are one person I would not wish to harm. I actually came here to tell you something."

Yomikawa was rather interested to know what this 'message' would be. "What's that?"

Touma answered, "Thank you."

Yomikawa was taken aback by what she thought she had heard as she asked in a surprised voice, "Thank you?"

Touma confirmed that she heard correctly. "Yes."

Yomikawa asked in a somewhat confused voice, "What are you thanking me for?"

Touma answered, "Two years ago, you arranged for the funeral of numerous Child Errors who were brutally murdered by a street gang. I want to thank you for giving them the respect they deserved rather than letting anyone else discard them like trash."

Yomikawa's eyes widened when she heard that. She began to ask, "Are you one of ...?"

Touma interrupted her, "Yes I am, and the ones responsible for what happened are still out there."

Yomikawa then said out loud, "So I was right."

Touma heard what Yomikawa said and asked, "So you knew there were others involved?"

Yomikawa answered Touma's question, "When we investigated the Child Error Facility, we found out that someone disabled the security system. That is why we didn't arrive until it was too late. I'm sorry." There was sorrow in Yomikawa's voice as she apologized. It did not appear that she was going to cry, but Touma could hear the sincerity of Yomikawa's apology in her voice.

Touma assured Yomikawa, "I don't blame you. You are one person I could never blame, and I understand why you have been unable to find any leads. However, I do have some good news." Hearing Touma say that caught Yomikawa's attention as he continued, "I already know of some of the people that I can blame, and I'm going to make sure they all pay."

Yomikawa eyes widened when she realized what his goals were. "So you've become the 'Devil' for the sake of revenge?"

Touma did not hesitate to answer, "Yes, but I want to accomplish much more than that. I want to do what you Anti-Skills have proven to be inefficient at handling."

Yomikawa had a feeling she knew what Touma was going to say, but she still asked, "What's that?"

Touma replied, "Putting the criminals regardless of whether they have Esper abilities or not in their place."

Yomikawa asked, "So you're just going to keep fighting until you take down all the criminals in this city?" She was not afraid of the gun that was pointed at her, but the implications of what this boy was attempting to do had made her feel fearful for his sake.

Touma answered, "If that's what it takes."

Yomikawa fruitlessly attempted to dissuade him by saying, "It sounds like a fine way to get yourself killed."

Touma was undeterred as he said, "I'm willing to take that risk. After all, that is the only purpose I have now. I cast away who I was, and now I've become the Devil of Academy City. It's the path I've chosen, and I will continue to walk it until I die."

Yomikawa was on the verge of begging Touma to listen to her. "It doesn't have to be that way. You're a just a kid right?"

Touma scoffed at the question as he stated, "I think those kind of days ended over two years when I witnessed my friends die in front of me. There was no way for me to return to a 'normal' life after what happened that day."

Yomikawa pleaded with him, "Please let me help you. There has to be something …"

Touma interrupted Yomikawa in a firm voice, "There is nothing you can do Yomikawa-san. You can't stop me. You'll never be able to stop me. I've made my decision, and I will hear no more debate." Touma began backing back into the shadows again as he told her, "I'm sorry that I pulled this gun out on you." Despite what Touma was saying, there was a hint of sadness in his voice.

After Touma backed away enough, he then turned and ran away. Yomikawa did not attempt to pursue him. She knew that it would be useless to pursue him, and this would need to wait for another time.

After Touma had put some distance between himself and Yomikawa he came across Kyuzo again who was waiting for him. Kyuzo asked in an interested tone, "So how did it go?"

Touma sarcastically responded, "It went better than I thought. Let's go."

Afterwards, the two of them continued walking back to the Big Spider headquarters. It was going to be a long, silent walk back.

/

**Location: Big Spider Headquarters**

**Over a week after Touma's fight with Jūhō**

A few days after defeating Jūhō, Touma was informed by Jiro that he was able to trace the location that the communication devices were originally created. They were all custom-made by a manufacturer known as **Kasutamumēdo** located in **District 15**. As their name implies, creating custom-made products was the company's specialty, and they had several competitors throughout Academy City. Their range of custom-made products ranged from regular household products, such as microwaves and televisions, to more advanced products, such as computers and cell phones. The custom-made jobs that could be done, included creating electronics resistant to being shorted out if there was an 'electrical surge.'

Considering the types of powers certain Espers had in Academy City, it was not too unusual for the customers to ask for something that would not be 'shorted-out' due to electrical interference. Espers with electrical abilities, such as Misaka Mikoto, had a real habit of letting their powers go out of control, and that would result in all electronics within the vicinity, including cleaning and security robots, to be destroyed. While one option to prevent that would be to ask **Kasutamumēdo** or one of its competitors to produce electronic devices to install features that could resist such issues, there were issues with practicality.

Despite how useful these modifications were, they were not affordable on a mass market level yet. Even though Academy City would find it optimal if all of their cleaning and security robots had these modifications, it would be impractical at this point to install that in all of them. Even without the modifications, each unit already cost over a million yen. If Academy City included providing these additional features, it would increase the costs of those robots by over fifty percent. For the time being, Academy City in general would have to make do with what it currently had.

Despite how expensive it was for custom-made products to be made, this company provided to be extremely profitable. It was not too unusual for scientists or Espers who were at least Level Threes to be this manufacturer's customers because they would have more than enough funding to afford their custom-made services. Everyone else would barely have enough money to maintain day-to-day life activities let alone afford services as extensive as this.

When all these facts were put together, it would make sense that the person backing the Devil's Representatives would have used either this company or one of their competitors, and they must have had 'a lot' of money. This made it all the more clear that these 'Kiharas' were definitely scientists, and they had resources. They were not only going to be difficult to find, but they would be dangerous. If the Big Spider was not careful, there was a high probability they would die trying to catch these people.

According to Jiro, if they went to this manufacturer and hacked its records, it was possible they would be able to find out who exactly purchased these devices and the location they were shipped to. Even if the purchaser was listed under a different name, this could give them their first real lead to learning more about the Kiharas. The first chance that Touma had to finally begin enacting his revenge was within sight. As much as Touma wanted to be excited about this, he knew it would not be good to think things would go smoothly. While it was true that for the most part, his time as the Devil of Academy City had progressed well, he was still bad luck incarnate. It was possible that something about this operation could backfire on him.

Touma had asked Jiro about the possibility of these records already being hacked and deleted. Jiro explained that it was a possibility, but this company was rather large, and it the best way to hack them would be to go into the company itself and access their computers directly. Additionally, he knew from experience that a fair number of the scientists in Academy City were extremely arrogant, and the scientist might not think they would even find out where they obtained some of their supplies from.

Despite the logic behind that, Touma felt as if there was still something off. He felt this all seemed too easy. While it is true the road to obtaining this information had plenty of difficulties, the road seemed a little too straight forward to Touma. It felt as if someone was trying to lead him into a false sense of security before going horribly wrong. However, he continued to participate in the strategy meeting, and he attempted to keep his concerns to himself.

It was decided that infiltrating the facility would be their best chance to obtain that vital information, but certain preparation were still necessary. The primary team would consist of Kamijou Touma, Kurozuma Wataru, Konori Mii, and Hashimoto Jiro. The secondary team would consist of Hebitani Tsuguo, Tsukuda Kyuzo, and Akiyama Ichirou along with several Anti-Esper Squad Members, such as Ueno Akira, Wakahisa Daiki, Sato Yuki, and Yamaguchi Kazuki.

The primary team would infiltrate the facility. This team would locate the computers, and Jiro would hack the records to find out who the purchasers of those communicators were and where the goods were originally shipped. The team would only be comprised of four people as anymore would make this mission more difficult to pull off without getting caught.

However, if anything were to go wrong, the secondary team led by Akiyama Ichirou would be on standby. He would provide support for the primary team through his sniper skills. Despite the fact he still only had one useable eye, he made it clear that it would not affect his abilities. He would have no issue with sniping or providing warning shots from the distance where he would be positioning himself. If any additional support was required, he would inform the rest of his team, and they would head in afterwards.

Before the operation could begin, the teams needed to make preparations. Wataru and Touma had finished making their own preparations when Wataru decided it was time that he and Touma had an important discussion. He noticed that something seemed a little off about Touma this time. While to most Touma would appear to be acting normal, Wataru could tell by his aura that Touma seemed to be troubled by something.

Wataru approached Touma as he normally would before he began talking, "Hey Touma. There is something I need to ask you about."

Touma asked, "What is it?"

Wataru stated in a concerned voice, "When we were having the meeting before, it seemed like something was bothering you."

Touma shrugged as he responded, "Is that much of a surprise? Something is almost always bothering me."

Wataru disregarded Touma's answer and inquired further, "Not quite like that. Is there something specific that is troubling you?"

Touma asked in a somewhat annoyed tone, "Do you really feel the need to ask?"

Wataru was becoming annoyed himself as he answered, "Yes I do. After all, I'm your boss, and it is important for a boss to know what is wrong with his subordinates." Touma remained silent as Wataru asked, "Are you afraid your perpetual bad luck will find a way to bite you?"

Touma sighed as he answered, "In the short version, yes."

Wataru asked, "Are you that troubled by your bad luck?" Touma did not answer, but he could see from Touma's facial expression that the answer was yes, so he decided to tell Touma, "As far as I can tell, your bad luck hasn't really been troubling you that much lately. In fact, for the most part, things have been progressing rather smoothly for us ever since you have taken up the mantle as the 'Devil of Academy City.' If anything, you have been infecting your enemies with your bad luck. Maybe your bad luck can stick to them for a while."

Touma was not convinced by that in the least. He wanted it to be true, but his gut told him that it was far from the truth. He replied in an unsure voice, "As much as I would want to believe that, it feels too good to be true. That by itself would be considered 'lucky' and that has never been my strong suit. I think every time something good happens, it is setting me up for something worse that comes along the way. I think that everything that has been going smoothly for me so far could be the set up for that bad something."

Wataru inquired, "When you mean something worse, do you mean something that could happen when we reach the facility that created the communication devices for the Devil's Representatives?"

Touma rubbed his head as he answered, "Possibly. I have this feeling that something is going to happen. Even if it doesn't happen then, it will happen soon. I just know it will happen."

Wataru could see where Touma was going with this. "I take it you want Konori and me to stay behind on this one."

Touma admitted, "A part of me would rather you stay behind, but I know that isn't going to happen. Besides, I know it would be impossible for me to accomplish this task on my own."

Wataru smiled slightly after hearing that, "Good to see that you are starting to catch on."

Touma tried to say, "But what if …"

However, Wataru interrupted Touma with a stern voice, "Don't you use the excuse, 'What if the bad thing is suppose to happen to one of you two?' Whether that be the case or not, you can't let that fear stop you. Nothing worthwhile can be achieved without taking risks."

Touma then tried to state, "I know that, but I don't want to risk …"

Wataru interrupted Touma once again with, "You are in the wrong business if you don't want to take risks Touma. You should know that more than anyone."

Touma remained silent because he knew there was no arguing with that. However, Wataru could tell that they still had not covered the real issue that Touma was having, so Wataru then stated, "I have the feeling that there is something else to this. Do you mind telling me?" Wataru's voice indicated that he was genuinely worried about Touma.

Even though Touma knew that he could trust Wataru, he was still uncertain if he should say anything. He asked, "Do you really want to know?"

Wataru replied, "Hey I'm not only your boss, but I'm your friend too you know. If you have something to say, you should say it."

Touma sighed before reluctantly asking, "Kyuzo told you about my fight with Jūhō the other day right?"

Wataru answered, "He gave me all the details he could. Did something happen during that fight?"

Touma replied, "In a manner of speaking." His mind went back to what he and Jūhō talked about after the fight, "After I fought Jūhō, I talked to him for a little while. I learned that the reason he does what he does is because his life was saved by someone as well." Wataru appeared to understand the direction that Touma was taking this. "It made me think about how differently things could have turned out if I didn't join Big Spider. How much of a different person I could have become. It has also made me think back on what my life could have been like for me if what happened at the Child Error facility never happened or at least if I didn't lose Ai and Yuudai that day."

Wataru nodded and assured Touma, "It is not unusual for people to reflect on such things, especially after facing such a situation. It is important to understand how you got to where you are, but it is also important not to remain stuck in the past too long. Otherwise, you will not understand where you are now and know where you want to go."

Touma replied, "I guess you're right, but a part of me thinks about why I should have that right when so many others don't have the right because they knew me or interacted with me."

Wataru sternly told Touma, "What happened that day to your friends in the Child Error facility was not your fault Touma. It never was."

Once again, Wataru's words were not enough to convince Touma. "I would be more willing to believe that if it was the only time something like that happened, but it seems like whenever I have attempted to make friends, something terrible would happen to them at some point." Before Wataru could say anything, Touma interrupted him by asking him, "Did I ever tell you about the time I made a friend and then five minutes later both he and his mother were blown up?"

Wataru was shocked to hear a question like that. He could only respond with, "That would be a new one."

Touma began retelling his story in a sorrowful tone, "Well on that day, I was playing with this kid who was about the same age as me. His name was Kumakichi. He decided to play with me when no one else would because I had already been labeled as this 'bad luck' magnet by the local population because of this TV program." The thoughts of his childhood were difficult for him to talk about, but he sucked it up and kept talking, "After we had some fun playing together, I heard my mother calling me. The next thing I know there is this car heading straight for us. I managed to get away, but the car ended up hitting Kumakichi and his mother, and the car just blew up. It incinerated them both." Touma's thoughts brought him back to that day as he stated, "I don't think I will ever get that image out of my head."

Wataru wanted to say something to make Touma feel better, but he could not think of anything. He tried opening his mouth to say something, but he could not find the right words. He also could not find the appropriate time to say anything either. From what Wataru could tell, it seemed like Touma needed to get everything out of his system before he could begin saying anything.

After a few moments passed, Touma continued his story, "If that wasn't enough, Kumakichi's father, Chokichi, tried to kill me a few days later with a knife. I will never forget what his face looked like that day. It was a face of someone who was not only lost but filled with such immense hatred, and I was the source of his pain. If it hadn't been for Mikoto's interference, I would have died that day."

Wataru tried to say, "Touma I …"

Touma interrupted Wataru again, but this time Touma's voice was becoming shaky as he asked, "You want to know the most ironic thing about what happened?"

Wataru asked, "What?"

Touma explained, "After it all happened, I looked up the meaning of their names. Kumakichi means 'fortunate bear' and Chokichi meant 'long-lasting good luck.' Based on what Kumakichi told me, their lives more or less represented what their names meant." Tears were beginning to well up in Touma's eyes as he continued to talk, "Because of me and my bad luck, I had ended the lives of two and ruined the life of another. I'm sure that my bad luck is the reason why almost everyone in the Child Error facility died that day. I may be having successes now as the 'Devil of Academy City' by 'spreading my bad luck' to my victims, but I think it is only a matter of time before it eventually infects one of you, and then …"

Before Touma could continue he was punched in the face by Wataru and sent to the ground. It took Touma a few moments to get his bearings of what exactly happened. He asked Wataru in an annoyed tone, "What was that for?"

Wataru replied, "To get you to shut up. I don't want to hear something like that from you again Touma."

Touma began to say, "But …"

However, Wataru interrupted Touma this time, "I don't want to hear any 'buts' from you either." Wataru then went on to state, "I'm not saying I don't believe the things you have told me about your bad luck. I have seen how unlucky you have been in the past, and your Imagine Breaker is clearly unlike anything I have ever seen in Academy City. The idea of something being able to negate someone's luck does not seem farfetched in a place like this. However, are you really going to let this 'bad luck' be what rules over you?"

Touma did not understand what Wataru was asking. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Wataru attempted to explain himself, "If you really think that the Imagine Breaker will continue to negate your luck for the rest of your life, you should try to embrace and overcome it rather than letting it control your life."

Touma was still having difficulty grasping what Wataru was attempting to tell him. "What do you mean?"

Wataru made one last attempt to explain, "Luck is an important aspect of life, but it is not the only one. There are many less than fortunate people throughout the world besides you. I know for a fact that more than a few of them have attempted to work to overcome their problems. You may not know it, but you have been doing that too. You might not think of yourself as a 'hero,' but the fact remains that over the past three months you saved a lot of people's lives and put a lot of criminals in their place. I still remember how broken you were after your friend was murdered. However, you did not let that be the end of you. You gave yourself a purpose, and as long as you don't let your bad luck keep you down, you will make a difference."

This time Touma understood what Wataru was getting at. "Wataru I …"

Wataru interrupted Touma again to make sure this was going to stick. "I know it will be difficult for you Touma, but will you at least give it a try."

Touma was silent for a moment before he finally conceded, "Okay. I'll try."

Wataru then put out his hand and replied in a more cheerful voice, "Good. Then get your head in gear because we have a mission to pull off."

Touma nodded as he accepted Wataru's hand and replied, "Right."

The two of them finished their preparations, and they were ready to move out with the rest of their fellow Big Spider members to pull off the next mission.

/

**Location: Esper Training Facility – Misaka Mikoto's Training Room**

As Touma was moving onward to his next operation, there was a familiar face who was attempting to finish some training of her own. This person went by the name of Misaka Mikoto who was Kamijou Touma's childhood friend. Currently, she was still a Level Four, but she was very close to finally attaining the power of a Level Five. After recent events, she became more determined than ever to become a Level Five as quickly as possible.

The news of the destruction of District 17's rail yard had become wide spread throughout Academy City. The official story was something along the lines of an Esper experiment going out of control. However, rumors of the true story had reached the various urban legend websites that stated the Devil had fought a powerful Esper in that area, and the Esper's power caused the destruction.

It was reported by the various rumor monger that the Anti-Skill arrived too late to do anything again. This made Misaka Mikoto motivated to become strong enough, so she could do something if she was in the right place at the right time.

"Huff . . . Huff . . . Huff." Mikoto was struggling to breathe as she was practicing her latest training exercise. This particular task was proving to be more difficult than she thought. Mikoto attempted to motivate herself by thinking, _"Come on push yourself Mikoto! You can do it! It is now or never!"_

Mikoto then activated her powers in an attempt to complete her training exercise. She was attempting to lift several hundred pounds worth of metal using her electrical powers. Over the course of her training, she had been building up the amount of weight she was able to lift using her abilities, but this amount of weight was proving to be rather cumbersome. She was beginning to wonder if perhaps her powers were currently not strong enough to lift this much weight yet.

After a few seconds, she only managed to lift the weight a few inches off the ground before she could not hold it anymore. When she dropped the weight she fell to her knees in exhaustion. She continued breathing heavily in exhaustion. Mikoto looked at the obstacle before her and thought, _"This is much harder than I thought it would be. Maybe I should do something else and come back to this another time."_

Before Mikoto had a chance to doubt herself any further, a voice called out to her over the intercom and stated in an encouraging voice, "Come on Misaka-san. You can do it. You just need to keep pushing yourself."

The voice belonged to Hakaru Shinjitsu, who was a scientist of Academy City, and she had been in charge of Misaka Mikoto's Esper training for months. Based on their tests and collected information, it was determined that Misaka Mikoto would likely become a Level Five in the near future. Everyday Mikoto trained, Hakaru believed they were this much closer to making that 'speculative data' a reality.

The prospect of being one of the scientists responsible for cultivating a Level Five excited Hakaru. Hakaru was extremely eager to see Mikoto be declared a Level Five. As a result, while Hakaru cared for Mikoto's wellbeing, she had a tendency to push Mikoto to the limit to see if those limits would eventually reach the highest level achieved in Academy City. Mikoto herself did not mind being pushed as hard as Hakaru was pushing her because she wanted to reach a Level Five status too.

As of this moment, there were only five Level Fives throughout all of Academy City. According to a few reports, there were only two Espers who were close enough in power to join those ranks. These Espers were Misaka Mikoto and another currently unnamed female Esper. As stated in the reports, this girl was set to begin attending the prestigious all-girl's middle school **Tokakawai** at around the time Misaka Mikoto was set to begin attending that school. Hakaru hoped that both of these girls would become friends when they met in school. Unfortunately, that would end up becoming far from the truth.

After training was finished for the day, Misaka Mikoto was absolutely exhausted. She was breathing heavily, and she felt like her feet had become lead. She did not have the strength to stand up on her own two feet as Hakaru approached her. Mikoto thought, _"I wonder how many more days I have to train like this to reach that level?"_

Hakaru congratulated Mikoto, "You did a great job today Misaka-san. You are really making some excellent progress. I'm sure if you keep this up, you will become a Level Five within a few months."

Mikoto asked in an exasperated tone, "We need to keep doing stuff like this for few more months?"

Hakaru scratched the back of her head, "Well we can do other exercises from time to time. That way we can keep things fresh for you, and it might be less taxing on you."

Mikoto gave a relieved reply, "That's good to hear."

Hakaru then pulled out a few letters for Mikoto and handed them over to her, "Before I forget, a few letters arrived for you earlier today. I figured it would be better for you to receive them after our training today."

Mikoto replied in an excited tone, "Oh! Thanks!" It only took Mikoto a minute to look through her mail, and after she was done looking through it, her expression was less than enthuastic.

Hakaru noticed the difference in Mikoto's demeanor and asked, "Is there a problem Misaka-san? You seem troubled."

Mikoto answered, "I'm fine, but I'm just a little disappointed that it has been a few months since the last time I had heard from my friend."

Hakaru understood who Mikoto was referring to as she asked, "Are you referring to Kamijou Touma?"

Mikoto decided not to hide it from Hakaru and admitted, "Yes. The last time I heard from him was over three months ago. I know that he said that he was participating in some kind of experiment, but three months feels like it is stretching it a bit."

Hakaru could see how worried Mikoto was about her friend, and she explained, "Well you know that some scientists don't like to take chances of their work getting leaked prior to the completion of their experiments. It causes a lot of needless speculation that we can do without."

Hearing that explanation did not make Mikoto feel any better. She merely responded in a saddened tone, "I hope your right, but still it feels weird that I haven't been able to receive anything from him in so long. I really hope he is okay."

Hakaru attempted to comfort Mikoto by telling her, "Well I'm sure you will hear from him again soon. You mentioned to me the other day that his father was going to pay Academy City a visit right?"

Mikoto's eyes widened and she sounded a little more hopeful, "I forgot about that. My mom told me the other day that Touma's father would be coming to visit him soon. Maybe while he is in town, we can spend some time together as well."

Hakaru smiled when she saw that Mikoto's spirits were improving. Unfortunately, they would both find out that it would be all for naught. When Touma's father would come to see him, he would find out a few things that would forever make him feel like the worse father on earth. It would also lead to Mikoto's first taste of the darkness of Academy City.

/

**Location: Academy City District 15**

While Mikoto was thinking about what her childhood friend was doing, there was another Esper at that moment who was learning just that. She received a call from her superior. It was a call that she had been eagerly waiting for some time to receive. When she believed this was the call that she was waiting for, she wasted no time picking it up.

This girl's name was Mugino Shizuri who was currently the third most powerful Level Five Esper of Academy City. She had been told by Tachibana Fuyu, one of the Academy City Directors, that she would soon have an opportunity to combat with the Devil of Academy City himself. She was very pleased at the prospect that the time was almost upon her.

After she was finished listening, she questioned, "So you want me to confront him after they exit the facility? Why don't I just confront him before he even enters?"

She then heard a response and she replied, "I see. I suppose it would be more fun in that aspect. Having an operation go by smoothly only for it to blow up in your face is a more interesting outcome." She then had a vicious grin on her face when she said, "Very well then. I'll be more than happy to oblige you on that."

The phone call with the director had ended. After she put her phone away, she activated her powers and a few balls of energy began to float around her. She said to herself in a smug tone, "I'm going to look forward to seeing if there is a beating heart in that body of yours Devil. It will be most interesting."

After she dissipated the energy balls, she Mugino gazed upon the night sky. She said to herself, "It certainly is a lovely night tonight. I should enjoy it before the job begins." She then said to herself in an overconfident tone, "I hope you will enjoy this night while you can Devil because this will be the last one you will ever experience." She then began to chuckle to herself at the prospect of what she would accomplish in the near future.

/

**Omake**:

Mikoto: I thought things were bad for you before, but I think this takes things up a notch. Now you have a Level Five after you.

Touma: Yeah I know, but we knew that this was probably going to happen sooner or later. Don't forget that Knowledgeseeker66 put up that 'Esper of Interest' list in Chapter Twelve for several good reasons.

Mikoto: Don't tell me Knowledgeseeker66 plans on having you fight all seven of the Level Fives, including me.

Touma: Well I wouldn't go that far, but I am going to fight at least three of them. It might go up to four or even five before this story is over.

Mikoto: Those battles will probably be hard to write.

Touma: Most likely. Knowledgeseeker66 is currently writing my fight with Mugino, and it has proven to be a challenge similar to my fight with Jūhō earlier. Hopefully, the readers will enjoy those fights when they come.

Mikoto: I certainly hope so.

Touma: Anyway, let's talk about something a little less violent shall we.

Mikoto: What would you like to talk about?

Touma: Well you made an appearance at the end of the chapter as the author promised. Aren't you happy?

Mikoto: I am, but it felt like such an inconsequential scene. All I did was complete some training and talk about how I miss you.

Touma: True, but it was meant to show a contrast between our lives. While I'm fighting in the Darkness of Academy City all you are doing is training and becoming stronger. Not to mention, that scene is to help set you up for your more important scenes later in this story.

Mikoto: Well as long as it serves a purpose like that, I can't really complain that much.

Touma: That is good to hear. Don't worry about that because you will be receiving more important scenes in the future. I can guarantee you that.

Mikoto: I hope your right otherwise there will be some problems. (Electricity begins to manifest around Mikoto's body)

Touma: (awkwardly looks to the audience) Okay. Well that does it for this chapter. Be sure to write a review, and look forward to the next chapter of this story. Hopefully, it will come out soon. Wish us luck!

/

**Author Notes**: As I promised, Misaka Mikoto made her glorious return to the story. You can expect her to receive quite a few scenes in a number of future chapters. However, in this story, Mikoto is still a reoccurring character, so she will not always make the cut in every chapter. Although, you can expect quite a bit of build up until the day she meets and confronts the Devil of Academy City.

Speaking of confrontations, the conclusion of Touma's fight with Jūhō was fun but difficult to write. Fighting scenes are by far the hardest scenes for me to write, and it is not unusual for them to be close to one of the final things I work on for a chapter because they can be so draining. Although, when I can really get into them, they start to move smoother, and become fun to write. Generally, I feel the ending result for the fight scenes are satisfactory. However, this chapter was an ironic case because the fight with Jūhō was one of the first things I worked on since it was literally one of the first scenes, and I did not want there to be any inconsistencies to develop if I did not complete the fight first.

Writing Jūhō's scene with Michiko after the fight was great to write as well. I really enjoy writing these two original characters. They are my favorite original characters since Ai and Yuudai. When I think about it, I guess one of the reasons I like Jūhō and Michiko is the fact that unlike other villain characters I have created or canon villains I have portrayed, these two are the first ones to openly show a number of redeemable characteristics. While a few of my villain characters, such as Takaya showed a few redeemable qualities, such as loyalty for his comrades, I think Jūhō and Michiko's redeeming characteristics are far more noticeable and notable. I am hoping you guys sort of like Jūhō and Michiko for similar reasons.

If any of you are wondering, I did not get the idea of Jūhō's design from the DC character Deathstroke. However, I will admit that I did become a fan of that character through the television series Arrow and the animated series' Teen Titans and Young Justice. I am also looking forward to being able to fight Deathstroke and play as him in the upcoming video game Arkham Orgins.

The ideas I had for Jūhō's character design were actually more inspired from a mixture of Bleach and Dead Space. As I previously mentioned the ideas for Jūhō's guns were inspired by the Espada Stark. I also got the idea for Jūhō wearing full body armor because of Isaac's full body armor and helmet in the Dead Space video game franchise. It was after I decided on that, that I came to the decision that Jūhō wears this armor because he is horribly burned. You can expect to see some answers regarding that at a later time.

While it probably did not surprise any of you that this chapter ended the Jūhō and Touma fight, did it surprise you that I'm setting up for Touma to fight Mugino Shizuri in the next chapter? Having Touma fight Miguno at this point has been in the planning stages for this story since mid-2012. From the inception, I knew that I wanted Touma to fight at least one Level Five relatively early in his career as the 'Devil of Academy City.' In case, you did not notice, this moment was actually given a 'call forward' back during Chapter Eight of this story.

How many of you remember the events of Chapter Eight that depict Touma already being the 'Devil' for four months with Wataru waking him up? During that scene, Wataru mentions to Touma about fighting a Level Five Esper. It was during the summer of 2012, I decided that the Esper in question would be Mugino although I did consider the idea of having Touma fight Sogiita Gunha. It is possible I might have Gunha and Touma fight in the future, but that will be for another day in the distant future if that ever happens. At this moment, it would be for the best to focus on what happens to Touma, Wataru, Konori, and Mikoto in the next chapter.

Originally, I was going to have Mugino and Touma begin fighting in this chapter, but I decided that it would be for the best to have the fight in its entirety in the following chapter. Be ready for the fight between the Devil of Academy City and Melterdowner in the next chapter. I hope you will enjoy it.

Be sure to leave a review regarding what you liked and did not like about this chapter. I greatly appreciate the feedback.


	16. Story IV: The Devil's Reign Part V

**Author Notes**: To my loyal fans, I'm sorry for the gap between the release of Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen. This chapter has been in 'Development Hell' for a while. Due to my frustration with the low number of reviews, I put the story on hiatus in favor of writing "The Kirita Chronicles" and writing other material as well. In eleven chapters, I've managed to obtain almost twice the number of reviews with "The Kirita Chronicles" than I have had with this story.

Consistently receiving reviews from loyal readers help me feel motivated to keep writing one chapter after another. Writing chapters is a lot of fun, but it is a time consuming task. I would like to receive more feedback for the efforts I put into completing the chapters. While I have every intention to complete the writing for all my stories, including this one, as I enjoy writing the chapters, this story will not be my top priority. However, that can change overtime. If you participate in the **poll **on my profile, that can help change things too.

On another note, during the hiatus of this story, there have been a number of localizations for the Index/Railgun franchise. All the seasons for the animes and the Index movie have or will be released by Funimation. Seven Seas Entertainment plans on continuing the English publication of the Railgun manga. Finally, Yen Press has been localizing the original light novels for 'A Certain Magical Index.' I'm looking forward to reading them. If the franchise could air on Toonami, that would be awesome. It would definitely help make the franchise more popular in the West.

After setting it up at the end of the previous chapter, you will finally see Touma take on his first opponent who is a Level Five Esper. Touma's opponent will be Mugino Shizuri, a.k.a Meltdowner. Since this takes place before Misaka Mikoto becomes a Level Seven herself, Mugino is still the third ranked Level Five Esper behind Accelerator and Kakine Teitoku. I put a good deal of effort into the Devil and Meltdowner. Hopefully you will enjoy it.

I do appreciate the loyal readers who have provided reviews in the past, and I hope they will continue to provide more reviews in the future. I also hope that new readers will begin leaving reviews as well because I not only greatly appreciate the feedback, but it does help provide motivation to keep writing the story.

/

Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories

Side Story IV: The Devil's Reign: Part V

Chapter Sixteen: The Importance of Friendship

/

Bonds are formed by trust

We all want to maintain them

It gives life meaning

/

**Location: Academy City Research Center – Exact Location Unknown**

**Date: Unknown**

At the center of the training room within this Research Center, a young man was standing on a platform. As he stood there, he kept looking at his hands with amazement. He could not help, but marvel at what was happening to him. This young man believed what was happening to him was a dream come true.

Over a year ago, he had volunteered to take part of an experiment in Academy City. He was one of over a hundred individual to take the test and his test results were apparently considered much more promising than any of the other candidates put together. When the experiment was over, the scientists asked him personally if he wished to gain Esper abilities and potentially become one of the strongest Espers in Academy City. The young man jumped at the opportunity without a second thought.

Ever since he was a little boy, he had seen numerous animes and read numerous mangas that involved the protagonists possessing supernatural abilities, and these protagonists used their powers to save people's lives and make the world a better place. Even though they were not real, the boy could not help but feel drawn to them. He wanted to be the person that could save people's lives and be considered a hero by the masses. He believed the only thing he lacked to becoming a superhero was supernatural powers. As far as he could tell, Academy City was the only way for his dreams to come true, and he would never turn down an opportunity to become what he always dreamed of being.

After going through the Esper development process, the young man quickly showed signs of gaining a power. The scientists of the Research Center had labeled his power to be "**Energy Body**." With this ability, he was capable of absorbing energy from either Esper powers or from sources of energy, such as electricity. Conversely, he was capable of discharging the energy he absorbed or the energy that he generated from his own body as either a projectile or a shield that could cover his body. Needlessly to say, it excited this young man that his abilities would give him both offensive and defensive capabilities. He believed these abilities would allow him to become the ideal hero.

During the young man's training, he would regularly practice the different methods of absorbing and releasing energy. Whenever he absorbed energy whether it be from electricity from a power cord or the energy from another Esper's ability, he could feel the energy enter his body and travel throughout his veins. It also gave him the feeling that he was eating and fulfilling his appetite for energy. Conversely, when he would blast the energy out of his body, he could feel it leave his body. This gave him a tingling feeling similar to how someone would feel donating blood. If he gave away too much energy it would leave him feeling weak and/or dizzy. However, he learned to overcome those issues by being more careful with how he would shoot out his energy.

The young man enthusiastically asked if he could absorb energy from the ground, but the scientists told him that was not possible at this point. However, the scientists told the young man that due to his powers continually evolving, there might be a chance the number of sources he could absorb energy from could become unlimited. Whether or not he would be capable of absorbing energy from the ground did not bother the young man. He was just happy to have developed powers, and it excited him that the scientists were enthusiastic about helping him with the development of his abilities.

Within six months, the young man's abilities had managed to reach the power of a Level Four Esper. The scientists seemed confident that this young man would eventually be able to reach the power of a Level Five in approximately a year if this pace kept up. However, the young man noticed that the stronger he became, the harder it was to fully control his powers. It worried the young man that if they did not take some kind of precautions, he would not be able to control them in the future.

When the young man asked the scientists about this potential problem, they told him that as long as he continued to work on it, he would gain full control and be able to continue pushing his limitations. The young man seemed convinced that the scientist knew what they were talking about, and he decided to proceed with the testing without bringing up his concerns again. However, the scientists had actually deceived the young man. In actuality, if they would have taken precautions, it would have pushed the schedule back by months, and they wanted to nurture a new Level Five as quickly as possible.

It was unfortunate the scientists were too eager to produce a Level Five Esper of their own, so they could have their shot at fame rather than ensuring that the young man would be capable of controlling his abilities without any possible incidents. They let their eagerness for fame get the better of them. They threw caution to the wind, so they would become renowned scientists responsible for their very own Level Five. However, despite this negligence, the process proceeded without any issues and the Esper became stronger with each test.

More than a year had passed, the young man had been told by the scientists he had nearly reached the power capacity of a Level Five Esper. The young was excited that he was this close to reaching the rank of the Elite Level Fives. He had fantasies of what his life would be like as a Level Five. Everyone in the city would respect him, he would be able to fight criminals to save others people's lives, and he would be known as a hero to everyone.

It was on this day that the young man had just completed one the final hurdles to becoming a Level Five Esper. He had just finished absorbing all the energy from a generator that was powerful enough to light up one of Academy City's residential districts. He did as he was ordered, and absorbed all the energy into his body until the generator was completely drained. When the process was complete, the young man had never felt such power and strength in his body before. The best word he could use to describe what he was feeling was 'overwhelming.' It felt difficult for him to contain all this energy, but he was certain that he could handle it.

To commemorate this occasion, the scientists were fine with the idea of some of the Esper's loved ones to come and witness the final stages of the experiment. Several members of his family and a few of his friends were allowed to visit and watch the final experiments. They all witnessed him absorbing the energy from the generator with awe. While a few of them were afraid of how much power he possessed, most of them were proud at how far he had come since he left for Academy City.

While most Academy City scientist would not be as willing to invite an Esper's family and friends to witness an experiment, these scientists wanted to show off their success story to as many people as possible. Some of the Espers who already became Level Fives had no family to speak of, and these scientists were too excited at the thought of finally creating a Level Five of their own that they let their hubris get the better of them.

After the young man finished absorbing the power of the generator he heard over the loud speaker, "That's enough for now Ryuunosuke. You can take a break before we proceed to the next step."

This young man's real name was Shimizu Ryuunosuke. He took the announcement that he would be getting a break as a great relief. As he breathed heavily he replied, "Huff …. Huff … Okay." He then clenched his stomach for a moment. For a second it felt as if he was going to throw up, but he the feeling subsided.

The voice on the intercom asked in a concerned voice, "Are you feeling okay Ryuunosuke?"

Ryuunosuke quickly replied in an attempt to calm things, "I'm fine. I just … Huff … needed to catch my breath … Huff … Huff." After a few moments passed, Ryuunosuke seemed to feel much calmer as he said, "I feel okay. It's fine."

That answer seemed to be satisfying to the person on the intercom as he replied, "Okay. We will start testing again in an hour." The person then turned away from the intercom and seemed to focus on some other business he wanted to attend to. He failed to notice that Ryuunosuke was acting tough to hide how he really felt.

Ryuunosuke was still having trouble breathing for a few moments. "Huff … Huff …" He thought, _"Damn this is harder than I thought. The power inside feels amazing, but it's difficult to contain." _He then closed his eyes and thought, _"I just need to concentrate and everything will be fine."_

He took a few deep breaths and he could slowly feel the surging power begin to settle down. He could still feel it within him, but he believed it should not be a problem anymore. Every other time he did that, the power within him would ease up and be digested, so he believed the same would happen this time. All of Ryuunosuke's weariness seemed to fade away after successfully absorbing the power into his body. He stood up straight and thought, _"That wasn't too hard."_

After he was certain everything would be fine, he looked at his hands and said in an excited tone, "I'm never going to get tired of this! These abilities are awesome! I can't believe I'm this close to reaching a Level Five! This is almost too good to be true!"

As he was marveling at his hands, one of Ryuunosuke's friends approached him. His friend was given permission by the scientist to talk to Ryuunosuke. Since they were taking a break from testing, the scientists did not see any issues with the two of them talking.

When Ryuunosuke saw his friend approaching him, he was more than thrilled to talk to his friend again. He said in a happy tone, "Hey Kazuki! Did you enjoy the show from the observation room?"

Ryuunosuke and Kazuki had been friends ever since they were children. It had been less than a year and a half since Kazuki had witnessed Ryuunosuke leave for Academy City, but he never believed that Ryuunosuke would be on the verge of become a big shot. He was having a difficult time comprehending the process Ryuunosuke had made. This truly did seem rather unbelievable without seeing it up close and personal.

Kazuki replied with a sense of awe, "It was pretty amazing what you did back there. If someone touched something like that generator, they would be lucky to survive."

Ryuunosuke smiled as he said in a playfully smug tone, "Not me. When I touch generators, they will be lucky to still have anything left when I'm done." Ryuunosuke held out his hand and spark could be seen emerging from it. "Thanks to these generators, I have plenty more energy inside my body."

Kazuki glanced at the generators Ryuunosuke drained the power from. They appeared to be completely devoid of any energy. As Ryuunosuke boasted, there was nothing left. Kazuki asked in a curious voice, "How does it feel when you were absorbing all that energy?"

That was a question Ryuunosuke did not expect to be asked. He scratched the back of his head as he replied, "That is actually a pretty good question." Ryuunosuke never really thought about how he would try explaining the sensation he feels when he absorbs the energy to people outside of Academy City. For a long time, it felt like a natural process for him that it he never really thought about describing what the sensation felt like to someone who did not have Esper abilities.

Kazuki could tell that Ryuunosuke was pondering about the best way to answer the question. Before he could tell Ryuunosuke that he did not need to answer the question, Ryuunosuke attempted to explain what the sensation felt like. He hesitantly stated, "Well it's like … It's kind of like …." Unfortunately, Ryuunosuke's first attempts to explaining were complete failures.

Ryuunosuke scratched his chin to think more about what happens when he absorbs the energy, but he was at a loss at how to properly explain it. As Ryuunosuke was thinking Kazuki thought, _"I guess that question might have been a little harder for him to think of an answer for than I thought. I wonder if this is due to him being an Esper and the fact what he goes through is normal for him now."_

Kazuki decided to tell his friend, "It's okay. You don't have to give me an answer right now."

Ryuunosuke looked over to his friend and asked, "Are you sure?"

Kazuki replied, "Yeah. Let's drop it for now. You can always give me an answer to my question after you have more time to think about."

Ryuunosuke seemed somewhat relieved when his friend told him that, "Okay."

Kazuki decided to slightly shift the subject by enthusiastically stating, "Anyway, it is really incredible how you were able to eat all that energy. Until now, I didn't know something like this was possible. I've heard what Espers were capable of, but this is much cooler."

Ryuunosuke smiled as he replied, "I know right. I can't believe this is only one of the things my powers are capable of. It's amazing."

What Ryuunosuke said caught Kazuki's attention as he asked in a curious tone, "Did you say that is 'one of the powers' you are capable of?"

Ryuunosuke shook his head as he replied, "That's right. My power gives me a variety of abilities besides absorbing energy."

Kazuki asked, "What else are you capable of?"

Ryuunosuke was more than happy to answer when he replied, "I don't quite know the full extent of my powers yet because they keep expanding as I become stronger. Like I mentioned before, I'm capable of releasing the power into energy blasts."

What Ryuunosuke was describing to Kazuki was something he had only seen in anime, manga, and video games. He wanted to see what that would look like in real life, so he asked, "Can you create an energy blast now?"

Ryuunosuke shook his head as he said, "Unfortunately not right now. I've been told not to create any energy blasts. Besides, the energy blasts I create are extremely dangerous. They could easily burn a hole through the walls, so you wouldn't want to be anywhere near me."

Kazuki's eyes were wide open when Ryuunosuke was telling him this. He replied in an uneasy tone, "I see. That sounds pretty intense."

Ryuunosuke replied, "However, you might get a chance to see if for yourself soon enough though."

Kazuki smiled as he stated, "I look forward to it."

Ryuunosuke stated, "I know that I can create a force shield around myself."

Kazuki asked, "You can create a defensive barrier?"

Ryuunosuke nodded as he explained, "Yes, but it is draining. The amount of energy it takes to generate something like that is extensive. I'm hoping that I might be able to make it more efficient later on." Ryuunosuke then replied, "The scientists also told me that I might be able to use my energy to propel myself as well."

Kazuki asked, "Propel yourself? What do you mean?"

That was a question that Ryuunosuke was not completely sure how to answer, so he did the best he could explain, "Well um … They explained it to me that I'd be able to concentrate energy to the soles of my feet that would push me into the air. It could either allow me to jump high or make it almost seem as if I'm flying."

Kazuki's eyes opened wide as he asked, "That sounds awesome. Have you been able to do that yet?"

Ryuunosuke shook his head as he replied, "Not yet. Right now, we are concentrating on what we know works and control it so I can become a Level Five. I've been more focused on controlling my energy absorption and energy blast abilities. They said that within a week or two that they will start working on that experiment."

Kazuki replied, "I see. I guess you can't just jump from experimenting on one ability to another right?"

Ryuunosuke answered, "That's right. We need to make sure my current abilities will make the grade before expanding upon them."

Kazuki shrugged as he stated, "Sounds fair enough."

After thinking it over, Ryuunosuke realized that he had an answer to Kazuki's earlier answer and stated, "I think I just came up with the best way to explain your question to energy aborbtion."

Kazuki was interested in hearing Ryuunosuke's answer as he replied, "Really? What is it?"

Ryuunosuke replied, "When I absorb energy, it feels kind of like eating food."

That answer did not surprise Kazuki as he asked, "Eating energy feels like eating food? I guess that makes sense, but do you know why it feels like that."

Ryuunosuke explained, "It sort of feels like eating regular food, but instead of using my mouth, I can feel it going through my skin and into my blood before converging into my stomach. Afterwards, I do the best I can to absorb the energy into my body. Similar to food, it can give me a bit of a stomachache if I eat too much. However, unlike food, I can still feel the energy within me long after I absorb it, and I will keep it within me until I need to use it to create energy blasts."

Kazuki was interested in learning more as he asked, "Are you saying the energy within you is like ammunition?"

Ryuunosuke shrugged as he replied, "It's something like that." He looked at his hands as he further explained, "I can feel the energy itself within me flowing through my blood and into my stomach. The energy feels like it is part of my body. When I use it, I can feel it deplete, and it kind of gives me somewhat of an empty feeling if I use it all up. However, when I absorb the energy within me, it can cause quite a bit of pain for me depending on the circumstances."

Kazuki frowned when he heard that. "I see. That must be awfully difficult for you."

Ryuunosuke smiled as he told his friend, "Everything has tradeoffs. Considering what I'm capable of, I'd say the tradeoffs are more than … more than …" For some reason Ryuunosuke's voice began to trail off as he tried to finish his sentence.

Kazuki's face displayed his concern as he asked, "What's wrong Ryuunosuke?"

Ryuunosuke tried to deny anything was wrong as he replied, "No … Nothing is wrong. I was saying that I'd say the tradeoffs are more than worth it." He began to rub his stomach as he said, "I … I said that this power gives me stomachaches. I'm … I'm pretty sure this is just one of those run of the mill stomachaches."

Unfortunately, the stomach pains did not subscribe. Suddenly the boy fell to his knees. It felt as if someone had punched a hole through his gut, and there was nothing he could do to help it. Instinctively, he brought his hand to his mouth because it felt as if he needed to throw up, but there was nothing coming up. The only thing he could do was move his right hand down from his mouth and clench his stomach. He was now clenching his stomach with both his hands in a vain attempt to dull the pain. It was becoming difficult for him to breath, and he started to feel a strange burning sensation all over his body.

Kazuki's eyes widened as he saw his friend in pain. He was not sure what to do. He panically looked around the area and shouted, "HEY! I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!"

In one of the nearby rooms, one of the scientists did not hear Kazuki's shout, but he did noticed something was off on Ryuunosuke's vitals according to his monitor. He said out loud in a curious voice, "What is that?" He did not seem concerned yet because he was told that they should expect a few bumps during the experiment, and he figured this was one of them.

Kazuki continued shouting, "SOMEONE HELP HIM!"

His voice caught the attention of all the scientists in the area as they were rushing to do something. Some of them were rushing to Ryuunosuke's side while others were calling emergency medical personnel. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to reverse what was about to happen.

Ryuunosuke replied in a pained voice, "No … something's … not right."

Even though his friend was shouting for help, Ryuunosuke could barely hear anything. It was as if everything around him had been muted and the only thing he could hear was something strange within his body. The young man thought, _"What's happening to me?!"_ Suddenly, it felt as if the energy inside him was about to explode like lava from a volcano.

As soon as he felt this, he could hear the outside world again and heard his friend shouting for help. The young man quickly got his friend's attention and warned him, "Get out … Something is about … to happen."

His friend turned around and stated, "There is no way I'm …"

Ryunnosuke did not have time to listen to his friend as he shouted, "GET OUT NOW!"

He did not have time to explain, but Ryunnosuke could feel the energy that was contained in his stomach was leaking and beginning to burst. It was as if his stomach was the nuclear power plant and it was experiencing a radiation leak. Unfortunately, he had a feeling that there was nothing that could be done to contain it. His pain had never reached this level before and the scientists did not tell him how to handle this type of situation.

Ryunnosuke felt the skin throughout his entire body burst. He looked down at his body and he saw that pieces of energy were beginning to erupt from his skin. His skin was beginning to crack apart similar to how the ground would break during an earthquake. Ryunnosuke could also see that energy from his powers was beginning to emerge through these cracks. The power that was emerging looked as if this was fire from the pits of hell. The heat from this energy became more scorching hot with each passing second, and it was already beginning to burn his skin. It was as if there energy forced itself through and shattered his skin tissue to relieve pressure and burned what was left on the surface. However, despite its attempt to relieve pressure, Ryunnosuke could feel within his very core it was not enough to prevent a massive eruption.

While he might not have been a scientist, Ryunnosuke could see that there was nothing that could be done to stop what was about to happen. Seeing that it was too late to do anything, Ryunnosuke told his friend while shouting with whatever strength he had left to muster, "THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO! LEAVE!"

Even though Kazuki was hesitant to leave his friend, he could see that there was nothing that could be done. He listened to his friend's request, and he began to run as quickly as possible. Ryunnosuke could begin to hear the panic screams of numerous other people as his ability to contain the power within him continued to deteriorate. While everyone else was panicking, the young man was focused on his friend as he was running through the door to get out of the room. He then turned to see his other loved ones watching through the glass. If he could, he would have told them to run. Unfortunately, he ran out of time before he could say anything thing.

It was in this moment, the young man knew that it was about to happen. The only thing he could do was futilely shout, "No! No! NO!" It felt as if his entire body was on fire, there was a flash of light that came from the very core of his body Afterwards, the energy within him exploded which incinerated the entire room and everyone still inside it.

The only thing that was still alive within that room was the young man. After the young man would finally regain consciousness, he felt as if his entire body was engulfed in flames, but something was keeping him alive. When he saw his reflection, the young man was horrified by how monstrous his appearance had become. However, that was not the worse that he saw. He saw firsthand what the flash of light that originated from his core had done. Needless to say, the end results of this experiment were far from what he thought they would be.

It was due to the negligence of the scientists to keep pushing the young man faster than they should have that this tragedy occurred. This tragedy would not only affect this young man's life and destroy his dream, but it would destroy the lives of numerous others. It was his dream to be the hero. However, when that flash of light emerged from his body, his dreams would never become a reality.

/

**Location: MEMBER Headquarters – Medical Center**

**Time: Two Days after the fight between Jūhō and Touma**

Jūhō woke up in a cold sweat. His breathing was fast, and he quickly checked his hands and stomach to make sure everything was okay. As expected, he was wearing his full body armor that covered all his skin. The only exception was his hands that did not have its usual armor on, but he did not think too heavily on it. As soon as he confirmed what he experienced was a nightmare of the past, he breathed a sigh of relief.

As he stared up at the ceiling, he thought, _"I never would have thought I would be so relieved it was a nightmare." _He then grimly thought, _"Although, I suppose there truly is no escaping the past. After all, it did happen, and there is nothing to change it."_

After he thought about that, he then thought, _"Where exactly am I anyway?"_

It took him only a few seconds to realize that he was in the recovery room in MEMBER's medical facility. After taking a few seconds to process what happened to him earlier, Jūhō remembered that the last thing he saw was Michiko healing him before he passed out due to his injuries fighting Touma. Jūhō checked his body to see what happened. He could tell that he was wearing new armor. However, he was not wearing his gloves because his hands were wrapped in bandages from both the stab wounds and to protect his burnt skin.

He then wondered, _"Where is Michiko?" _When he looked around the room, he noticed Michiko sleeping on the chair next to him. He said to himself, "Oh there she is." He did not want to admit it, but he found her sleeping face to be rather adorable.

Jūhō decided not to wake her up, but as it turned out, he did not need to. Michiko woke up a few seconds later to notice that Jūhō had woken up before her. Michiko seemed embarrassed that he saw her sleeping like that and she seemed to fumble around with her words. Jūhō found it pretty amusing how Michiko was reacting. It was pretty different from how he would normally see her.

After Michiko regained her composure, she awkwardly asked Jūhō, "Hey there … are you feeling okay Jūhō?"

Jūhō groaned as he replied, "I wouldn't go as far as saying okay, but I'm alive, so I guess that counts for something."

Michiko in a saddened voice replied, "I see. Well after what you went through, I guess it's not a surprise." She then tried to awkwardly double back as she said, "I mean … I didn't mean it like … I mean that I … um." Despite her attempts, she was at a loss of words for what she should say next to him.

Jūhō tried to put Michiko at ease by calmly telling her, "It's okay Michiko. I know what happened. There is no need to sugarcoat it. I lost to the 'Devil of Academy City and received more than a few injuries. There is nothing more to it than that."

Michiko hesitantly replied, "…Okay. So what happens next?"

Jūhō asked, "About what?"

"After what the Devil did, do you want to take revenge or something?" Michiko curled up her fingers into a fist as she declared, "A part of me would be fine with you getting revenge on the Devil for putting those spikes through your hands. In fact, I would be willing to help you get it. Just say the word, and I'll help you." Michiko's determined facial expression showed how much she would want to get even with the Devil putting Jūhō through so much pain.

Jūhō waved it off as he replied, "I'm not interested in getting my revenge. It was a fair fight, and he won. I would be interested in a rematch, but I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon."

Michiko asked in a tone of disbelief, "You really don't want to get revenge?"

Jūhō shook his head as he said, "Not really. What he did to me was fair game. My life was in his hands, and he choose to spare it. I'll be sure to keep that in mind if I ever fight him again." He could see based on Michiko's facial expression that she agreed to what he was saying. Jūhō went on to say, "However, I have a feeling the Professor will probably send Ramerio or have Baba send his gadgets to fight the Devil instead of me next time."

Michiko nodded, "I see. I could see the Professor doing that too."

Jūhō sighed as he stated, "I think I'm going to be sidelined for a while because of my failure." There were a few moments of awkward silence between the two of them before Jūhō asked, "How long have I been out for?"

Michiko was hesitant to answer the question at first, but she decided there was no point in lying about something like that, so she answered, "You've been asleep for nearly two days."

Jūhō was unfazed by that. He shrugged it off and stated, "I've had worse. It has been a while since I was put into a comatose state like that."

Michiko was not sure if she was more disturbed by the fact Jūhō took the news so well or the fact he had been through something like that before. However, when she considered what she saw underneath his helmet, she could not say that she was too surprised anymore. She nervously asked him, "Are you referring to what caused your appearance?"

When she asked that, Jūhō was struck silent. Even though he was wearing his helmet and she could not see his eyes, Michiko could tell that he was surprised that she asked him something like that. She could tell that she said something that she probably should not have. Unfortunately, now that she said it, they could not just ignore it.

She averted her eyes as she apologized, "I'm sorry for asking that. It isn't my business. It's just that when our personal nurses were giving you medical treatment, I got a glimpse of … your face. It made me wonder … It made me wonder …"

Jūhō interrupted her as he said, "I see. Not quite what you pictured right?"

"Not exactly" As soon as she said that, she realized that was something else that she should not say as she tried to backpedal again, "Wait I didn't mean it like that … I … I." Once again she failed at her attempt to backpedal.

Jūhō interrupted Michiko again, "It's okay. I'm not upset. I've long since accepted what happened long ago. You don't need to worry." Michiko tried to say something in response, but she could not find the words. Instead, Jūhō asked, "Are you frightened by it?"

Without any hesitation in her voice, Michiko answered, "No." That was one thing Michiko said on impulse that she would not regret or backpedal on. She cared for Jūhō regardless of what he looked like underneath his armor. Nothing could change that. "I will admit that I was shocked by what I saw, but I'm not afraid of it."

Jūhō could see that Michiko was sincere in her statement. He then went on to tell her, "To answer your question, I was referring to that accident that caused this. It was not so much the accident that put me in a coma but rather the horror of what I had done. I was so overwhelmed by the results of that disaster, the next thing I knew I blacked out, and I was waking up in a medical room in a detention facility."

Michiko asked in a horrified voice, "They locked you up?"

Jūhō replied, "Yes."

Michiko asked in a tone that was a mixture of shock and concern, "What happened to you in there? What exactly was this accident?"

Jūhō was uncomfortable at the time to discuss those particular topics. His tone made it evident as he stated, "…If you don't mind Michiko, could that be a conversation for another day? I'd rather not talk about it right now."

Michiko facial expression indicated how saddened she was that her questions were probably causing Jūhō more harm. She knew that she should not push this envelope anymore as she replied, "Yes, this can wait. I can understand this is not exactly something you would be so ready and willing to talk about."

Jūhō sighed in relief as he said, "Thank you."

Once again, there was an awkward silence between the two. In an attempt to make this situation less awkward, Jūhō asked, "You were asleep when I woke up. Have you been waiting by my bedside this whole time?"

The blush on Michiko's face answered the question before she admitted in an embarrassed tone, "I was." She then tried to cover it up in a rushed voice, "Someone had to be here to make sure you came back to the land of the living after all. With my healing powers, I would be able to help you out if you needed any additional medical attention."

Jūhō could not help but smile underneath his helmet at Michiko's rather poor excuses to why she had been by his side this whole time. Knowing that she had stayed by his side even after seeing what he looked like under his helmet comforted him a little. It was times like these that Jūhō wished he did not need to wear this helmet all the time so people like Michiko could actually see his facial expressions.

While Jūhō did not reject Michiko as being his 'self-proclaimed partner,' he always figured that she would probably stop acting so loyal to him if she ever saw him lose or what he truly looked like. However, she put herself in harm's way to save him from the Anti-Skill, and his true appearance did not frighten her away. Knowing this brought an unexpected feeling of warmth to Jūhō's heart. He thought, _"I guess there can be more to people than what you think."_

Jūhō took a breath before saying, "Thank you Michiko."

Michiko asked, "For what? You already thanked me for saving you before."

Jūhō answered, "It's for more than just that. Thank you for being there for me … I don't think words could ever express my gratitude towards you."

Michiko grabbed Jūhō's hand and declared to him, "The words you just said to me were enough. They will always be enough"

Jūhō did not attempt to get rid of her hand. Instead, he held onto her hand tight, and he did not seem interested in letting go. Seeing Jūhō do this filled Michiko with such great happiness. If she were to describe this moment, she would say she felt like she was living in a dream. This would be the beginning of a new relationship between them.

If this was another world, this would be the first step towards a happy ending. It's unfortunate that the world they live in rarely gives them. Both of them have had their dreams and worlds torn apart by what the real world had in store for them. However, even though the two of them knew how grim their circumstances were, it did not stop them from trying to get a better ending. Only time would tell if they would be successful.

/

**Location: Kasutamumedo**

**Time: Present Day – Several Days after Jūhō's awakening**

After more than a week had passed since Touma and Jūhō's battle, Touma along with a group of other members from the Big Spider were infiltrating the company known as **Kasutamumedo**. They were hoping that this operation would allow them to acquire information on the purchaser of the custom-made communication devices that the Devil's Representatives had been using. The people who were accompanying Touma for the infiltration were Wataru, Konori, and Jiro. Along with Touma, they were all wearing masks to prevent people from being able to identify them if someone saw them.

The objective of this mission would be for them to escort Jiro to their main record room. Jiro would use a flash drive he customized himself to copy all the information regarding the custom-made communication devices, so they could find the purchaser, and possibly other information that might be contained that could give them more clues. Afterwards, Jiro would go through the information and help them find their next target.

Jiro had been a technician and computer engineer who primarily helped the scientists with their experiments. His intelligence had proven to be a valuable asset to the Big Spider on multiple occasions, including this one where his knowledge of various systems proved to be useful for this infiltration. He had been trained to handle and hack various programs. He also had the abilities to upgrade the weapons and equipment for Big Spider, but until recently he did not always have the resources possible to do that.

The scientists Jiro was affiliated with had always wanted their engineers to be capable of being capable of not only setting up the various computer programs to set up for the experiments and make them hack-proof. Conversely, the scientists wanted them to be capable of possibly hacking their competitions devices to steal their secrets, so they could remain ahead of the game. Since Jiro would be far from the only worker that these scientists would disillusion, it would come back to bite them.

For this operation, the first line of business for Jiro was to disable the security cameras and the security systems. Luckily thanks to Jiro's expertise, he was able to hack into their security systems by connecting to one of their cameras, which he was able to do remotely. He was able to use the signal from the security camera to trace it back to the security office, and he was able to interfere with their systems.

There were three tasks that Jiro was able to accomplish by connecting to the signal. First, Jiro set it up that the cameras would play old footage from over an hour ago on the loop. Second, he disabled all the systems that would have altered the authorities to trespassers in whether it was opening the wrong door or breaking through the window. Finally, he was able to use their security system to identify the location of the room their objective was located in. With these three objectives accomplished, the four of them were able to infiltrate the facility with ease.

Since Jiro was useful at handling the technical stuff, it was up to Touma, Wataru, and Konori to handle the physical activities. These 'physical activities' generally consisted of either Touma, Wataru, or Konori rendering the various security guards unconscious. There were a surprisingly large number of security guards that they needed to take care of. Although, considering the relatively high rate of crime in the city, such as the recent mall hostage situation and the rail yard being ripped apart, it was understandable some companies were a little on edge. Jiro was attempting to learn how to fight, but his physical skills left much to be desired, so Touma, Wataru, and Konori would act as his muscle.

Touma, Wataru, and Konori took turns knocking the various guards unconscious while keeping a look out for anyone who might see them. Wataru gave the order to use the chocker hold on these security guards. They did not want to kill anyone since they were certain that most of these men were probably men doing their jobs. However, they were going to need to be effective in their moves. Even with the security cameras and security systems not working, the last thing they needed was for one of them to shout and warn everyone in the building. It would not be hard for at least one of them to try and contact the Anti-Skill while the others tried to take down their group. That was the last thing they needed.

Throughout the building there were some hallways that were lit up while others were darker. Apparently, the company did this to cut the costs by only lighting up the hallways they deemed to be important. While it did make business sense, it did make it easier for the group to infiltrate the facility, sneak up on some of the guards, and hide their unconscious bodies.

Wataru was the one who generally took point while Jiro would tell them the direction they had to go. As they encountered security guards, either Konori, Touma, or Wataru would sneak up behind one of the guards and put their arm around his throat. They would knock the wind out of the guard, so he would not have much of a chance to call out for help. They would also cover up the man's mouth with a rag covered in chloroform until he was unconscious.

After following Jiro's directions, they were finally near their destination. The group made sure to take down all the security guards in the immediate area and hide their unconscious bodies. This way it would reduce the chances of a security guard accidentally stumbling upon them before they finished their objective. After they were sure they had gotten all of them, they arrived at their destination.

As carefully and silently as possible, Wataru glanced around the corner to see two security guards talking to each other at the end of the hallway. He signaled his friends to remain perfectly still, so he could try to get a better look at the situation without drawing too much attention. After a quick look, he could see that they were blocking the way to the room that they needed to get into. If the room was as important as they hoped, it made sense to them that there would be a little more security. This would require something more than a chocker hold and chloroform.

Wataru whispered, "There are two guards blocking the door at the end of the hall. There is no way for us to sneak up on them since they are facing away from the wall and they would easily spot us. We're going to need to handle this differently from the others."

Touma looked up to see some air vents and suggested, "Is there any way we can sneak in from above through the air vents?"

Jiro replied in a deadpan voice, "They did not make air vents conveniently large enough for people to crawl through in this building like they do in anime or video games. We're going to need another idea."

Konori suggested, "We could try drawing the attention of one of them and knock him out."

Jiro quietly shot down the idea as explained, "That might work in video games, but things don't work that way in the real world. If we try distracting one of them, chances are the other would also notice our distraction too. Even if only one of them fell for our trap, I'm pretty certain that his friend there would realize something is wrong soon enough. If we try distracting them and his friend disappears, I'm sure unlike most AI, he would be able to put two and two together, and he might make a call to the Anti-Skill."

Konori sighed, "You're right. That probably would backfire on us."

Wataru looking over the corner and then looked towards back at his friends as he said, "Ordinarily, I would suggest we distract one and take out the other from behind. However, that is not physically possible. This hallway is the only way to reach that door, and I'm not seeing any alternative ways we get to them. Unless we could someone break through one of the windows without one of them knowing or magically squeeze into those small air vents, we are not going to be taking down these guys quietly."

Touma tried to carefully consider what needed to be done. "We've taken out a lot of the guards already. We could go with Konori's idea and hope it draws out both of them at the same time. We might be able to take them down before they can call the Anti-Skill. Even if they do manage to call out to their friends, there might not be anyone conscious to hear them. Or at least no one nearby who is awake." He seemed pretty hopeful that this dumb idea might actually work.

Jiro sighed as he reluctantly stated, "As I said, it may not be the best idea. However, as much as I hate to say it, that plan might be our best option. We might have to chance it. It's not like we have any high tech espionage equipment with us."

Touma asked, "But what about the stuff that you've done that has helped us get this far and what you'll use when we get to that computer? Doesn't that count as 'espionage equipment'?"

Jiro replied, "I'm talking about equipment that we could use in this situation. What we have now won't be enough to help us out. We're going to need to think of something else."

As the four Skill-Out were whispering among themselves, they were interrupted as they heard one of the guards say, "Do you feel something strange about this?"

Another guard asked in a disinterested tone, "About what?"

Unlike the other guard, the first guard said in a concerned voice, "Well we haven't heard anything from the other guards. Usually, at least one of them would have walked by the check up on us to make sure we were doing our job." He looked down the hallway suspiciously, "Something doesn't feel right about this. There is something off here."

"You want to go check to see what those slackers are doing?" The other guard suggested in a casual tone.

The first guard was annoyed by the lack of regard his co-worker had for his job as he replied, "I think I will. I'll be back in less than ten minutes. You better not slack off while I'm gone. You know what I'll do to you if I catch you on that cell phone of yours."

In a bored tone, the other guard responded, "Yeah. Yeah."

The first guard rolled his eyes as he walked away from his less than responsible coworker. As the first guard approached the Skill Outs, Wataru replied in a deadpan voice, "This is rather convenient. He's coming to us without needing a distraction."

Jiro remarked, "I guess unlike most video game AI, real people are more likely to notice something is off when the regular routine is not being followed."

As the guard was getting closer, Wataru quietly ordered his friends, "Move back. He will be here in a few seconds. Find somewhere to hide."

Following Wataru's order, Touma, Konori, and Jiro moved back and found a place to hide. Wataru managed to find somewhere to hide just as the security guard turned the corner. He turned on his flashlight as he said, "This is a little too dark for my taste. I know they are trying to save power by minimizing the lights that are on, but this is ridiculous."

As the guard was saying this, Wataru thought, _"Is this guy seriously saying that out loud to himself?"_

After the guard walked past Wataru's hiding place, he took action. Wataru quietly approached the guard and similar to the others. He had his arm wrapped around the guard's throat so tightly, he was barely able to give an audible sound let alone a scream. Wataru then covered the guard's mouth with the chloroform rag to muffle any sounds he could make. It did not take long for the guard to succumb and fall unconscious. Wataru quickly put the guard to the side and signaled the others to come out.

Wataru looked over the corner to see the other guard was still at the door. He said, "It looks like we didn't attract his attention on that. However, it won't be long before he notices something is not right. We are going to need to do something and quick."

Touma suggested, "Since there is only one guard, we could try to rush him and take him down before he has a chance to react."

Wataru was not impressed by this as he rolled his eyes and asked in a deadpan voice, "Don't you have a good idea?"

Touma sarcastically remarked, "Oh. You wanted good ideas? I'm sorry, but I'm fresh out of them."

Wataru comically narrowed his eyes as he asked, "Can we do without the sarcasm?"

Touma replied, "Sorry, but that's all I've got right now. Coming up with strategies isn't always my forte. That's more yours and Konori's area. I'm pretty good at thinking on my feet when I'm in the middle of fight, but not so much for this."

"Fine then." Wataru turned to Jiro and Konori and asked, "Do either of you two have an idea?"

Konori suggested, "We could wait until he figures out something is wrong and comes our way like the previous guy did."

Jiro replied, "That might not work. Alternatively, he might decide to make a call to Anti-Skill or something the moment he realizes something is wrong."

Touma jokingly said, "We could always hope he's incompetent." Jiro and Konori gave him a funny look that more or less said, 'Can't you think of something better?' Touma defensively said, "I mean they do have him guarding a door and pretty much have him watch a long hallway. They could have put him there because the job is that easy. Based on what he said earlier, he doesn't seem to take his job that seriously."

Wataru looked over and replied in a deadpan voice, "I have a feeling your theory might not be off the mark Touma."

Touma did not expect Wataru to say this. "What?"

Wataru quickly glanced down the hallway and told his group, "I think that guard is playing with his cellphone."

Touma looked down the hallway to see the inattentive guard playing with his cellphone and laughing at something. "So he is. In that case, I guess I'll just go and knock him out then."

Wataru replied in a deadpan voice, "Well aren't you always the eager one to volunteer."

Touma retorted, "This should probably be easy. He didn't exactly strike me as being all that bright to begin with. Now that he's distracted by his cellphone, even if he notices me he might not realize I'm not his coworker until I'm close enough."

Wataru pointed out, "This is still kind of a dumb idea. It will only take a moment for him to look up. If he does, you better be close enough to hit him."

Touma replied, "Well I'm doing it. It probably won't be long before those other guards wake up, and we lose our chance. I need Jiro to get that information as fast as possible, and this might be our best chance." Touma began walking down the hallway. While Wataru thought about stopping Touma, he decided to just let him go ahead with this idea.

As Touma walked down the hallway, the other guard did not seem to notice since he was really enjoying whatever he was watching on his phone. When the guard finally noticed another person walking his way, he assumed it was the other guard. He quickly put away his cellphone. While he was putting his phone away, he was looking away as he tried to lie his way out of this, "I … I wasn't looking at anything on my phone. My wife sent me a text message, so I was just …" He did not get a chance to finish that sentence.

When the guard looked at the person approaching, he could see that person was not who he thought it was. Before he had a chance to do or say anything, Touma ran right at him and punched him right in the face. The guard's face slammed right in the wall and was rendered unconscious. After he hit the ground, the only thing that could be heard from the guard was a painful groaning, "…Uhh!"

Touma gazed upon the guard's unconscious body as he sighed. "It seems like I'm far from the only stupid person here." He kneeled to the ground to check the guard's pulse. After he was sure the guard was okay he said, "Sorry pal, but I had to do it."

With the coast cleared, the rest of the group walked down the hallway. Wataru looked at Touma's handiwork and remarked, "It looks like you were right."

"It was a gamble, but it paid off." Touma looted the keys from the unconscious guard and opened the door, "Anyway, let's get what we came for."

Wataru replied, "You don't have to tell me twice." He turned to Jiro and asked, "You ready to do this Jiro."

Jiro grinned, "Definitely."

Since the guard on the floor was his mess, Touma decided to carry the guard into the room and put him off to the side. Touma did not feel like he really need to hide this guard since this room is supposed to be closed, and it was unlikely anyone would find him until they were long after they were gone. While they closed the door, Wataru decided to guard the door to make sure they did not have any unexpected guests while Jiro attempted to retrieve the information they were looking for.

After they entered and secured the room, Touma saw one of the security cameras and nervously asked, "The security cameras aren't working right Jiro?"

Jiro confidently reassured his fellow Skill Out, "Don't worry about it. They are all taken care of. The security guards should only be seeing stock footage."

Touma asked, "So we don't need to keep wearing these masks?"

Jiro took off his mask as he said, "Not right here, but I suggest you putting it back on when we leave this room. I'm just taking mine off because it will make it easier for me to do my job." After he found what he was looking for, he inserted the flash drive to begin the copying.

"Okay then." Touma decided to take his mask off as well.

The mask he had been wearing was the trademark dragon mask that he wore every time he would do his vigilante activities as the Devil of Academy City. There were times when he would look at his mask and it would give him the chills. He thought it was a good thing since that probably meant the people he fought probably received chills as well.

As Jiro was attempting to copy the information on a flash drive he brought, Touma could not help but uncomfortably look around the room and nervously pace a little. Everything seemed to be going a little too well. He could not help but feel tense that something would go wrong any second. He thought, _"There is no way I can be lucky about this. It's either this will go well so things can go horribly wrong later or something is really going to go downhill any second. This must be like the calm before the storm."_

Konori noticed that Touma was constantly looking around with a somewhat paranoid look. She quietly asked, "Are you okay Kamjiou-san?"

As Touma looked around the corner, he quietly answered, "Not really." He then asked his a question of his own, "Does anyone else besides me think this is going a little too easily?

It was easy for Konori to understand Touma's skepticism. "I guess, but quite a number of our other operations went pretty smoothly too didn't they?" Konori sounded a little hopeful and seemed to honestly believe that perhaps things would go well this time around.

Touma replied, "That underground shopping mall mission and a number of my Devil missions have gone well, but our so called 'luck' in those missions could have been at the cost of other people who needed to go through that in the first place. We've also seen how some other people have attempted to kill me because of the reputation I've been building as the Devil like those guys who nearly decapitated me or the fight I had with Jūhō in the rail yard last week."

While Konori was still understandably disturbed by those people who tried to decapitate Touma with a chainsaw, she tried not to let it show. She told Touma, "I understand that those were close calls, but you still pulled through in the end."

"Barely. I may have beaten Jūhō, but I would have been dead long before that fight if it wasn't for Wataru. If he wasn't tailing me the day those freaks ambushed me, I wouldn't have a head right now." The thoughts of that day still gave Touma the shivers. He involuntarily put his left hand on his neck. It seemed like he was doing it to make sure his head would remain attached to his body.

"…" Konori was not really sure what she could possibly say to Touma. It was kind of difficult to try and comfort someone who went through the trauma of nearly getting decapitated. She tried to tell him, "I'm sorry that almost happened to you."

Touma told Konori, "It's not your fault Konori-chan. I was acting foolishly. I thought I had to do everything myself. That experience did teach me a lesson. While there are times when I may still have to fight alone, there are times when I should be open to working together with others."

Konori asked, "Like we're doing now or at the mall."

Touma nodded. "Yeah. I've seen for myself that I can get a lot more done if I try being more cooperative. I wouldn't have been able to pull off that mall operation by myself, and the same goes for this too."

Konori replied, "Well I'm glad that you think that."

Touma then nervously rubbed his head. "I think this is partly the reason why I can't shake this feeling that something is just waiting around the corner. Things are just going too smoothly."

Konori walked up to Touma and whispered in his ear, "If it makes you feel any better, we can use my ability to see if anyone is nearby."

"…" Touma did not respond outside of a silent nod.

Konori activated her power, and she could see that no other guards appeared to be nearby. She quietly told him, "Everything seems fine."

Touma pessimistically replied, "For now, but something else can always go wrong so enough."

"I can understand what you are saying. It is going pretty well, and it is easy to question why everything seems to be looking up." Konori reminded Touma, "However, you should keep in mind this is a company and not some military base."

Touma countered, "This may not be a military base, but they made some stuff that probably belongs in the military."

Konori did not have much to say in response besides, "Touché."

Touma stated, "In any case, let's not be surprised if this data brings us to a military base or somewhere that has a lot more security than this. If it's not one thing it's another. We're going to need to be ready for anything."

A few moments later, Jiro told them, "Okay I've made a copy of all their records. I just need another minute to cover my tracks."

Touma put his dragon mask back on as he told Konori, "Let's get out of here before anything happens."

As soon as Jiro was finished with the computer, the Big Spider members began making their way out of the building. They tried going the same way they came in while making sure to be careful in case anyone else became suspicious of the situation like one of the other guards did earlier. Luckily, they did not face anymore difficulties on their way out.

/

As they were leaving the building, Touma's foreboding feeling proved to be correct. Somehow Touma could feel it in the air that something was not right. All the hairs on his neck began to standup, and he could feel something ominous was building up. It felt like a surge of energy was gathering up nearby ready to be released in some kind of burst.

Touma then heard a strange sound coming from the alleyway, and he shouted to his friends, "Get down!" Everyone got down as Touma told them without hesitation as he got his right hand ready.

An energy blast similar to Jūhō's suddenly launched from the alleyway, and Touma blocked it with his right hand. After touching it with his right hand, the trademark sound of shattering glass could be heard as the energy was negated by Touma's Imagine Breaker. With the energy blast dissipated, Touma readied himself. _"I guess you want a rematch Jūhō."_

The sound of mock clapping could be heard from the alleyway, and Touma heard a voice he did not expect. "Sorry Devil-san, but I'm afraid that this is as far as you go. You will not be leaving this facility without getting by me first." The voice belonged to a female and she spoke in a rather smug tone.

Touma asked in a demanding voice, "Who are you?"

The girl walked out into the open to reveal herself as she told him. "I suppose it would be proper for me to give myself a proper introduction Devil. My name is Mugino Shizuri, I'm one of Academy City's Level Fives, and I'm going to be your executioner."

Hearing the words 'executioner' caused all the members of the Big Spider to glare at her. They seemed like they wanted to tear her apart. However, they knew that this opponent was too powerful to take lightly. If they were not careful, they knew that they would probably be killed. Even though that energy blast was negated, it was easy to tell that if those energy blasts touched their bodies, they would get torn and vaporized.

**Mugino Shizuri **was a beautiful looking girl who had long flowing brown hair and wore a yellow dress. Based on her appearance, she gave off the impression that she was probably some kind of spoiled brat when she was growing up who was used to getting everything she wanted. She also gave off a devilish smile that indicated her blood lust. As she claimed, she was one of the Academy Cities current Level Five Espers. Out of the five that currently existed, she was ranked third, and she had aspirations to climb even higher.

The ability Mugino possessed was known as **Meltdowner** but it could also be classified as **Particle Waveform High-Speed Cannon**.

If someone with electrical abilities were to confront her, Mugino would be capable of bending the trajectory of electrical attacks. However, an Esper with electrical abilities would be capable of bending the trajectory of attacks from her Melterdowner ability as well.

Mugino decided to give them a firsthand demonstration of her ability. A ball of light began to form and float around Mugino's head. Touma, Wataru, and Konori could tell that each of those balls of light contained a concentrated amount of energy, and they were extremely dangerous.

Touma's eyes widened as he thought, _"I should have noticed it the first time. This power feels similar to Jūhō's, but it feels more refined."_

Mugino then pointed directly at Touma and said, "It was nice killing you." One of the energy balls shot out a blast of energy directly at the group.

As the energy blast reached the group, Touma lifted up his right hand, and the Imagine Breaker's trademark sound of shattering class could be heard as the energy blast dissipated leaving Touma, Wataru, and Konori unscathed.

Mugino was not annoyed at seeing her energy blast blocked. In fact, she seemed pleased to see it happen. Her face formed a smile that was less than inviting as she stated, "It is good to hear that at least one of the rumors about you was true Devil. I look forward to seeing how much more of the rumors about you are true." Several more energy balls began to form behind Mugino's head, and she seemed ready to use them.

Touma told his friends in an urgent voice, "You two you need to find cover let me handle this one."

Konori tried to protest, "But Devil-san …"

Touma interrupted, "I'm sorry, but this is something only I can do right now. If you don't get out of the way, you will be killed."

Before Konori could respond to Wataru interrupted her, "He's right. We need to stay out of his way. Otherwise, we will …"

While Wataru was talking, Mugino shot another ball of energy in their direction which Touma managed to block with ease. Mugino said, "Do you really think I'm going to just stand idly by while you all chat away. I'm here to fight and that's what I'm going to do." She then shot another energy blast that Touma had to block again.

Touma shouted, "Get out of here now!"

Jiro had no problem following that order as he ran away. Wataru grabbed Konori's arm. As the two of them ran, Wataru shouted, "Don't get killed Devil-san."

Touma softly said to himself without turning back, "I don't intend to."

As Muguno saw the display before her, she stated in a playful voice, "It was good that you sent your friends away Devil. I have a feeling that you would not be as capable of fighting me to your full capacity if they were still here. What fun would that be if you were not able to use your full strength against me?"

Touma responded, "This isn't going to be fun at all. Not for you or me." He curled up both of his fists and readied himself for battle.

Mugino replied in an amused tone. "We will see about that. I will be looking forward to seeing whether or not you have a beating heart Devil. What is left of your corpse will make a nice trophy." Suddenly four energy balls formed around Mugino's head simultaneously.

Even underneath his mask, Touma did not seem too surprised by this. Since she was a Level Five Esper, he figured that she was probably capable of utilizing a lot of power. He knew that he had to be ready for anything. Touma quickly figured that he would be at a disadvantage facing this opponent if he did not do something.

As Mugino let those balls of energy float around her head, Touma cautiously thought, _"I have a feeling she is probably capable of using more than one of those at once. If she is capable of that, I'm going to need to be real careful. I may not know all the limitations of my Imagine Breaker, but I'm sure this would be something it wouldn't be able to handle."_

Touma knew that his Imagine Breaker was only confined to his right hand. This meant if she launched all the energy beams in different directions at around the same time, he would not be capable of blocking all of them. Touma knew he would need to rely on his maneuverability to dodge the attacks. However, dodging attacks would not be enough either. He would have to try and find her vulnerability.

As the energy balls floated around her head, she smirked as she launched their power in Touma's direction. Power from the center of those energy balls would be released from them in the form of energy beams like the one Touma negated earlier. Mugino launched each energy ball one at a time one or two second interval.

The energy blast was aimed at Touma's head which he quickly side stepped to the left. A second energy blast quickly followed the first one that Touma tried to roll out of its path. He rolled in a way, so he would be able to get back on his feet. As soon as Touma managed to get on his feet, he saw the third blast coming his way.

Touma was barely able to move his head in time to avoid the third blast from shooting a hole in his head. The energy blast managed to singe a piece of the upper right part of his mask, but he did not suffer any injuries. Finally the fourth one that Touma used his right hand to block since he saw that she only had four energy blasts at her disposal.

After blocking the fourth attack, Touma put himself back into fighting position and prepared himself for the worst as he declared, "I won't go down that easily! Don't forget that I'm called the Devil of Academy City for a reason!"

While Touma was saying this, he was thinking, _"I can probably block attacks when they are within close proximity. However, I have a feeling she is capable of a wider variety than that. I should probably be careful about which energy blasts I try to avoid and which ones I try to block. They can make a real difference in this fight."_

Mugino smirked as she urged him, "Show me what that reason is."

Touma was more than happy to take her up on her challenge, "I'll be glad to."

With that the 'formalities' for this confrontation had reached an end. The time for the Level Five Esper, Mugino Shizuri, and the Devil of Academy City, Kamjiou Touma, to begin their battle has come. This would be a battle that neither one of them would forget. The results of what would come afterwards could never be forgotten even if they wanted to.

/

As Touma and Mugino began their clash, Konori, Wataru, and Jiro made their way to safety. They were running as fast as they could to put some distance between themselves and the battle that was going on. The three of them could hear the sounds of Mugino's energy blasts, but they did not back until they were sure they were far enough. After they were far enough away, Konori and Wataru turned back to see the fight was well underway. While they could not see what was going on, they could see some smoke that was formed from Mugino's attacks.

Konori asked in a voice filled with uncertainty, "Wataru are you sure that we'll be able to support Kamijou-kun?"

Wataru asked, "Why are you asking me that now?"

Konori explained, "A week ago, he had to fight one major battle on his own. Kyuzo told us about how powerful that Esper was, and that Esper was a Level Four who could have become a Level Five. Now Kamijou-kun is fighting an actual Level Five Esper. Both opponents had abilities that neither of us could probably do anything against." Wataru and Jiro remained silent as Konori continued her point, "The only reason why Kamijou-san was able to stand a chance was due to his Imagine Breaker. After seeing her power, I could see that there was nothing we could do to help him even if we did get involved. As much as I hate to admit it, we might be able to handle certain Espers without any problem, but Espers with abilities like that are more dangerous than we could possibly have any hope to defeat without someone like Kamijou-san on our side."

"If you think like that, then there is nothing we will be able to do." Wataru's voice was devoid of its usual light heartedness as he told Konori, "I may have told Touma that he should rely on us more, but I never expected that we would be in a position to help him in every fight. I even told him myself that there probably would be times he would still have to fight alone, but we would help him when we could. If we can't physically do anything in some of those fights, we can still make it clear to him that we will support him."

As much as Konori wanted to believe Wataru's ever word, she was still not convinced as she asked, "Do you think that'll be enough?"

Wataru decisively answered her question with, "No. Nothing can ever be enough in this world. However, all of us in Big Spider can help when we can. We'll also be there to make sure he doesn't go too far to achieve his goals. That much hasn't changed, and it'll never change."

While Konori knew what Wataru was saying was true, it did not raise her spirits as she replied in a dejected tone, "I guess not."

When Wataru saw that Konori was not feeling any better, he put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "The reason why he won his fight last week was not only due to his Imagine Breaker, but it was also due to the physical skills he has acquired from Big Spider. Most of those skills were the same skills that you and I helped him develop."

As soon as Wataru told Konori that, her eyes seemed to light up as she replied, "That's true. Kyuzo did mention something like that in his report."

"Exactly. All the fights Touma has been through had proven that he's needs to make use of both his physical skills and his Imagine Breaker if he's going to win." Wataru told Konori in a sincere tone, "We'll be there to help him when we can. What we need to do is figure out the right time when he should and shouldn't get involved."

When it looked like Konori was about to say something, she was interrupted by Jiro, "I hate to be the third wheel and ruin the moment between you two, but I think we should focus on trying to get as far away from here as possible rather than sitting around." Jiro's comment caused Konori to be flustered as Wataru seemed rather amused as Jiro continued to tell them, "The Anti-Skill could get here any minute, and I don't want to be picked up by them."

"We don't have to worry about the Anti-Skill, but you're right. We need to put more distance between ourselves and that Level Five. There's a safe house we can use for shelter that's not too far from here." Wataru ordered, "Let's go." Konori and Jiro followed Wataru's lead.

/

Mugino's codename was **Melterdowner**, and she had that name for a good reason. If her energy blasts were able to hit her target, the target would be melted away by its sheer power. There were only a handful of Espers that were capable of blocking her abilities

There were a number of similarities between her power and Jūhō's abilities. For one, Mugino primarily used energy blasts as her method of attacking her foes. Additionally, she was not immune to her own abilities. If she overused her abilities, they would cause her a backlash that would result in bodily harm to her. There was at least one time Mugino was afraid that she might accidently blowup her own arm at one point during her training and managed to just barely avoid it. While Mugino always did try to act prideful and smug about her powers, a part of her was still frightened by how she could easily injure herself if she was not careful.

Unlike Jūhō, Mugino did not need to rely on guns to fire this energy nor did she need to have these energy blast come out directly from her body. She was able to generate energy balls around her body, and she could fire them from any direction. For example, she could create an energy ball by her feet and shoot it upwards. Additionally, she could fire more than two energy blasts at once. However, it required more concentration for her to fire more than one or two at once, so she preferred to fire her energy blasts one after another.

Another difference between her and Jūhō powers were the fact she could not absorb energy. In some ways, this made her both superior and inferior to Jūhō. Her power did not rely on her internal energy supply. As long as she was conscious, she was able to activate and control her abilities. Jūhō on the other hand could potential create an energy blast with more destructive power than her own if he absorbed enough energy.

/

Touma was doing everything he could to avoid Mugino's attacks. However, since they were in an alleyway, the amount of space left a lot to be desired. Not only did he have to try to avoid Mugino's attacks, but he had to make sure he did not end up hitting into a wall or slip on any leftover garbage. Luckily for Touma, his training with the Big Spider had helped him become adaptable in various situations.

As Touma was dodging Mugino's attacks, he was trying his best to get a feel for Mugino's power and if there were any weaknesses. He could see that the energy balls that Mugino formed never seemed to go beyond four, but he was not sure if she was holding it back. However, he could tell that she was able to control each of those energy balls individually, and she could activate them whenever she wanted. She did not have to activate them one at a time. By her will, they could all be activated simultaneously.

After Mugino had recreated the energy balls, she had two of them attack Touma at the same time with one targeting his head and another targeting his abdomen. When Touma saw these attacks coming, he could feel as if his body was giving him instruction on what he had to do to avoid these attacks. Touma jumped to his right that allowed him to dodge both of those attacks without any problems.

While Touma was dodging that attack, Mugino activated the other two energy balls to try and tried to attack him with two simultaneous attacks again that were aimed towards his right leg and left arm. Even while he was in the middle of dodging the previous attack, Touma was able to know what he had to do to avoid this new attack when he saw it coming.

It was hard to describe the sensation that Touma felt. This was a sensation Touma usually experienced whenever he fought against other Espers who mainly relied on their powers to fight rather than opponents who relied on physical abilities, such as Konori, Wataru, or the Level Zero gang members that he beat up. There was usually something different about Esper opponents that was different for Touma.

Thanks to this sensation, Touma was capable of knowing what to do to dodge the attacks and the appropriate times to use his Imagine Breaker to block the attacks. However, as useful as this sensation was, it did not give Touma any guarantees that he would be able to escape unscathed. That was especially true if the attacks that Touma had to deal with were too fast or he was taken by surprise.

Touma managed to move his body to avoid his arm and leg from being burned to a crisp by mere inches. However, since Touma barely managed to avoid the brunt of the attacks, he could still feel the heat of the attack. The heat of these attacks caused Touma's left shoulder and right foot to be slightly burned. It was not enough to cause him serious harm, but it nearly caused Touma to lose his footing. Additionally, Touma's jacket and left shoe were slightly singed, but they were not destroyed. That close call was further proof that Touma could not afford to receive even one direct hit from Mugino's attacks.

"_That was a little too close for comfort." _Touma sighed in relief as he thought, _"I'm going to have to be really careful with her. Her powers are similar to Jūhō's, but she had more natural control over them than he did."_

Touma could feel that the attack caused his right foot to become slightly weaker than his left foot and his left arm was less able to continue to fight. However, he refused to show any sign of weakness in front of his enemy as he stood up and maintained his footing as best as he could. He had to use more of his left foot to compensate, and he had to mentally tell himself not to try using a nearby wall for support.

After utilizing those four energy balls, Mugino had to concentrate to recreate them once again. As she was in the process recreating them, Touma paid attention to Mugino's facial expression. For a second, Touma could see Mugino briefly grit her teeth before returning to her usual smirk. It reminded Touma of what people would usually look like when they are trying to do physical labor or needed to use a lot of energy to move something.

When Touma saw this, he thought, _"I had a feeling that those energy beams would require her to utilize some of her energy. It appears that makes her feel momentarily uncomfortable, which means she probably can't constantly create those energy balls, so she shouldn't have unlimited ammunition similar to how Jūhō burned out all of his energy if he attacked too many times."_

As Touma was thinking this, Mugino attempted to attack him again, but Touma managed to jump away far enough to prevent the blast from affecting him, but he came close to hitting the wall. He used his right hand to prevent his face from hitting it and when Mugino attempted to attack him again, Touma used his hand to propel himself away from it. The wall was then melted away by Mugino's abilities.

When Mugino saw the Devil seem to have an issue with avoiding her attacks she thought, _"He seems a little less graceful than before."_ She then activated her third energy ball aimed at Touma's legs and then activated the fourth one that aimed for his chest.

Touma was able to jump back to avoid the attack from hitting his legs and he could briefly see that Mugino's attack melted a part of the ground causing a major pothole. However, he did not have time to focus on that. He raised his right hand to block the fourth energy blast. As before, the sound of shattering glass echoed in the alleyway before negating the attack.

"_I can feel a little something from blocking the energy beams with my right hand, but it doesn't feel burned like when I barely managed to avoid her energy blasts before. I wonder why that's the case." _Touma knew now was not the time to think about this. _"I can worry about that later. First, I need to make sure to take her down."_

Even though Touma was still wearing his Devil mask, Mugino could tell that he had a different look underneath that mask. At the beginning of the battle, Mugino wanted to test the limits of her opponent's apparent ability to negate her attacks. Since she was not in a rush to end the fight too quickly, she thought it would be more fun this way.

"_With whatever power he's capable of, he's able to block my energy blasts individually. However, can he block attacks if the energy blasts are combined?" _Mugino smirked as she thought, _"Let's find out." _

Mugino decided to activate all four energy blasts at once and shot a combined blast aimed directly at the Devil's head. As soon as the energy blast came into contact with the Devil's right hand, a sound of shattering glass could be heard before energy blast began to be negated. However, unlike the individual energy blast attacks, Touma's right hand was not able to negate Mugino's combined energy blast but rather the energy he was able to touch. Mugino could see that her attack was not completely negated as soon as he blocked the attack.

"_This must mean that it takes longer for him to negate stronger attacks or it's more difficult for him. That might be a good thing to keep in mind." _Her attack ended shortly afterwards, and she could see the Devil was still standing and ready to keep fighting.

Seeing that the Devil had managed to block and dodge all of her attacks so far, she could not help but feel a little impressed as she thought, _"It would appear that this Devil is capable of maintaining my interest. However, he's going to need to do much more than blocking and dodging my attacks to keep me entertained."_ Mugino smirked as she said out loud, "It's time to take things up a notch."

/

As Touma was avoiding Mugino's attacks, his fellow Big Spider member, Akiyama Ichirou, was witnessing the battle himself. He was asked by Wataru to take up a vantage point position to be a look out and provide cover fire if necessary. He usually does a thorough job looking over the area, so he was surprised to see that an Esper was in the area. The only assumption he could come up with was this Esper was already there beforehand.

Ichirou saw that Jiro, Konori, and Wataru managed to escape from the area while the Devil stayed behind to fight the Esper. He was able to see some of the Devil in action against another Esper. Although he had yet to see the Devil attack the Esper, he was impressed by the Devil's ability to consistently dodge this Esper's attacks. He also witnessed how the Espers attacks capable of destroy or melting nearly everything it touched.

"_If she tried shooting in my direction, I'd probably be goner. Hell I'd probably be melted like a candle." _Ichirou rubbed the area near his eye patch in memory of another bad experience he had with an Esper, _"I need to be careful about avoiding something like that happening, but I can't just leave the Devil behind. He's the main reason we have a shot."_

As Ichirou continued watching the fight, he thought, _"I might be able to shoot her, but it could be risky. I should probably ask Wataru about that, but he might need a little more time to get out of the area."_

Ichirou checked the communications and confirmed that no one had called the Anti-Skill yet. As he knew from experience, the Anti-Skill do not usually appear on time for these situations. He thought, _"I bet someone who can control the Anti-Skill or at the very least delay their notification, sent this Esper."_

After observing the battle for a little longer, Ichirou thought, _"I understand the Devil's reflexes are supposed to be impressive because of Wataru's teaching. However, these reflexes seem to be something else. Despite the somewhat narrow area he's forced to fight in, he seems capable of knowing how to avoid the attacks even as she's about to activate those energy beams of hers. Does this have something to do with that ability of his?"_

Ichirou briefly checked his watch and thought, _"I think enough time as passed."_ He pulled out his communication device to contact Wataru.

After only two rings, Wataru picked up and immediately asked, "Is everything okay Ichirou-san?" From the tone in Wataru's voice, it was apparent that Wataru was concerned about the safety of his subordinate.

Ichirou replied, "I'm fine."

Wataru then immediately asked, "Is everything going fine with the Devil's fight?"

"Ummm…" Ichirou hesitantly commented, "It depends on your definition of fine."

Wataru clarified, "Does it look like he's going to lose?" There was a faint sound of worry in Wataru's voice as he asked this.

Ichirou replied, "Hard to say. He's been dodging and blocking her attacks, but he hasn't been able to try a counterattack yet."

"He's probably trying to get a feel for her abilities before trying anything." Wataru's voice indicated he seemed relieved.

"That's one possibility." Ichirou asked, "Who exactly is he fighting anyway?"

"She introduced herself to us right before she began fighting the Devil." Wataru stated, "She told us that her name was Mugino Shizuri, and she was one of the Level Fives in Academy City. If she was telling the truth, this will be our first encounter with a Level Five."

When Ichirou heard this, his eyebrows raised as he thought, _"A Level Five? This seems a little bit below the amount of power she seems to be displaying here."_ Ichirou asked, "Do you think she was telling the truth?"

"As crazy as she seemed to be, I think she probably was." Wataru commented, "Anyway, the Devil is probably dodging her attacks because he's either trying understand her abilities or he's currently not in a position to attack and he's looking for a weakness. That's something the two of us went over in his training." Wataru appeared confident that his student would be victorious.

"That might be the case. This Esper is strong, so he might only have one shot to get her." Ichirou informed Wataru, "However, if she's really a Level Five, I think she might be holding some of her power back."

Wataru's eyes widened as he asked, "Holding back?"

"Yeah. She must have been told not cause too much damage to the area. From what I'm seeing and what energy she probably should be capable of, the damage to the area should probably be much more significant than what I'm seeing." Ichirou explained, "I've seen the destruction that Level Three's and Level Fours are capable of, so I know what I'm talking about. I've probably seen it more often than you have."

"_I can't really argue about that." _Wataru asked his subordinate, "You think she was given orders to hold back to avoid destroying the surrounding area?"

"It's possible." Ichirou stated, "She was probably given orders by whoever is causing the notification of the Anti-Skill to be delayed or at whoever is controlling this Level Five is connected to that person."

"Even with this delay in the Anti-Skill being notified, how long do you think it'll be before the Anti-Skill will be aware of the situation?" Wataru sarcastically commented, "It's kind of hard for me to believe they'll be incapable of noticing something like this for too long."

"Given the noise these two are making, I'm sure it'll be a few minutes at most before there really isn't an excuse anymore. Quite frankly, it's almost surprising that no one has tried to do that already." Ichirou asked in a curious voice, "How many people did you knock out in that building anyway?"

Wataru ignored that question as he told Ichirou, "Regardless of whether she's holding back or not, I've seen how deadly those attacks of hers are. From what I saw, one hit from those beams, and you'll be lucky to still be breathing."

"_I guess they must have knocked out a lot of people then." _Ichirou replied, "That leads me to something else I'm noticing about the Devil."

Wataru asked, "What's that?"

"I won't deny he's fast and has good reflexes." Ichriou was observing Touma dodging several of Mugino's attacks as he said, "However, his reflexes appear to be a little too good."

"What do you mean by that?" Wataru asked in a curious voice.

"When he dodges the attacks, it seems as if his body is more ready to avoid them that it should be." Ichirou explained, "He appears to avoid most of the attacks by a wider margin than you'd expect from him even in that relatively narrow area."

Wataru did not find anything strange about what Ichirou was saying as he casually commented, "He does have good reflexes. I've sparred with him on a number of occasions."

"It's not that. This seems like something more, but I'm not sure what to make of it. It's almost like he has an idea of how to avoid the attack as its being launched or possibly before." Ichirou stated, "Even someone with good reflexes shouldn't be that good."

Wataru scratched his chin as he thought, _"Could his Imagine Breaker have more than one ability? Could it affect more than Touma's right hand and he doesn't even know about it?"_

Before Wataru could say anything, Ichirou stated, "Do you want me to try taking a shot at this Level Five? I have her in my sights, and I think I can probably get a good shot at her. I won't kill her if you don't want me to, but it should be enough to take her down."

"Hmmm." Wataru considered what Ichirou said for a few moments before ordering, "Hold back for now. We can't be sure of all her abilities. Plus it might give away your position, and you would be targeted."

"_Those were my thoughts exactly, but still I need to do something else."_ Ichirou asked, "When should I shoot then?"

Wataru asked, "Do things seem desperate for him?"

Ichirou zoomed out to see that seemed to be okay as he told Wataru, "I don't believe so."

"In that case, hold back for now." Wataru then instructed, "However, if the situation changes, I'll leave it up to your discretion to get involved."

Ichirou replied, "Understood." The contact link between Ichirou and Wataru was about to be cutoff when he heard something from his Anti-Skill communication as he told Wataru, "Well what do you know. Someone finally did call the Anti-Skill. It'll probably be a few minutes before they arrive here."

Wataru ordered, "Keep an eye out for the best escape route the Devil can use after he's taken care of that Esper."

"You don't have to tell me twice." With that the contact between Ichirou and Wataru was cutoff as Ichirou considered the best route the Devil could use to get out of the area before the Anti-Skill arrived.

/

**Location: Big Spider Safe House**

After Wataru hung up his phone, Konori walked over to him and asked, "Was that Akiyama-san?" It was just the two of them in the main room while Jiro was resting in one of the other rooms, so they had some privacy.

Wataru answered, "Yes. He's been observing Touma's fight from his vantage point."

"Are things okay with Kamijou-san?" Konori asked in a concerned tone.

"He's okay. Based on what Ichirou told me, Touma's probably getting a feel for that Esper's abilities before making his move." Wataru tried to make his voice sound as confident as possible to erase Konori's worries.

"I really hope you're right." By the sound of Konori's voice, she did not seem to be too relieved by Wataru's words. She then questioned, "By the way, Akiyama-san was supposed to give us lookout and sniper support right? Then why didn't he see that Esper coming?"

Wataru defended Ichirou by telling Konori, "Even from that vantage point there are blind spots. However, it's also possible she was already in the area before we got there and either noticed us as we were leaving or decided to wait for us to leave."

"Why would you wait until after we broke into the building?" Konori asked in a tone of disbelief.

"We don't know how some of these Espers are. I guess she probably wanted us to think things were going to go smoothly before literally raining on our parade. I doubt she was really interested in guarding the building since the only one she was interested in was Touma. She didn't seem too interested in going after us as we escaped." There was a bitterness in Wataru's voice as he said, "I doubt we registered in her radar."

"Kamijou-san did tell me that he thought our mission was going too smoothly." Konori scratched the back of her head as she said, "I guess I should listen to his instincts more often. He's good at figuring out when things are about to go downhill."

"We all learn something new every day." After making that casual comment, Wataru stated in a serious tone, "Anyway, it's likely that someone hired that Level Five to guard the area after that hostage incident in the underground mall."

It was not hard for Konori to know what Wataru was talking about. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised someone knew we were coming. We did steal some of the gang's communicators. That might have been noticeable."

"Exactly." Wataru theorized, "They probably found out about the missing equipment from a report or something. They'd know how many of those communicators should have been recovered and noticed they were a few too short." Before Konori could say anything else, Wataru then commented, "Don't forget that all those gang members we helped capture were wiped out later that day. They never made it to questioning. There's no doubt they are all connected."

Konori replied, "It's hard to think of how they were able to pull a stunt like that off. I mean that truck was clearly destroyed by an Esper attack. Since the driver was still alive, it's pretty obvious that, the attack was targeted at the prisoners. However, no one seems to be putting a serious investigation into the destruction of a prison transport vehicle."

"That further proves how dangerous these people are." Wataru walked towards the window to look out at Academy City as he said, "This also leads to the question: Was that Level Five on guard duty the whole time or was she told we'd be here today? Either way we're going to need to be careful about how we go about future missions." As Wataru was saying this, Konori seemed to realize something else.

"Agreed, but I have a question of my own." Konori replied in a grave tone.

Wataru asked, "What question would that be?"

Konori said in a suspicious tone, "If they were able to figure out that we'd probably come here, wouldn't they have tried to delete any information that would have been relevant to us beforehand?"

"That's a good question. It seems like something they should do." Wataru tried to think of the possibilities as he said, "It's possible that they wouldn't consider deleting certain information because it's too valuable or they wouldn't think that we could track them down, and they put that Level Five there just in case, but then … Hmmm." Wataru seemed to be at a loss for words before finally stating, "Regardless, we should probably have a discussion with Jiro about this possibility. It's a good thing I told him to not try doing anything directly with the information until we were in a better position."

Konori sighed, "I guess Kamijou-san might have been right about why we should be worried about the mission going smoothly for more than one reason."

"It couldn't be helped. What's done is done, and we need to be ready for what's next." Wataru figured he should change the topic. Unfortunately, the next topic he was about to bring up was not a pleasant one either, "Anyway, while it isn't too surprising, it is troubling that these Kiharas we're going up against are able to pull the stings of a Level Five. I can't help but wonder if they can do the same with the other four as well. It'll be even worse if those other two Level Fours who are supposedly in training to become Level Fives join those ranks too."

"Do you think Kamijou-kun stands a chance against those kind of odds? He can probably take on one or two of them, but he has limits to what he can do." As usual, Konori's voice was clearly worried about the future battles her friend might have to wage.

Wataru did not answer Konori directly. Instead he told her, "All I can say is he'd never give up regardless of the odds."

This lead to Konori asking, "What about you? Can't you help Touma fight these Level Fives? I've seen you in action even when you've held back. You're speed and strength is far beyond everyone else in the Big Spider, and you're more than a match for most Espers. Kamijou-san's fights as the Devil may have helped make the Skill-Out more appealing to people, but it's thanks to leaders like you and Komaba-san that have allowed us to retain these numbers. If anyone is capable of handling a Level Five besides Kamijou-san, it'd be you."

Wataru could not help but smile as Konori said those things to him. After she was finished talking, he commented, "I'll gladly accept the compliments you gave me, but I think the chances of me defeating a Level Five as statistically improbable. They're probably far below Touma's chances. It's ..."

Konori was not in the mood to listen to the regular logic that Academy City would want everyone to believe as he interrupted Wataru, "I don't care about the statistics. I want to know what you believe is possible."

Wataru sighed as he told Konori, "It's not impossible I could win. It depends on the Esper's ability and the location the fight takes place in. I've fought against Espers before, and I'm good at being able to get a feel for their abilities and taking them down." His voice sounded less confident as he told Konori, "While I might be able to do the same against a Level Five, I also know they have a higher amount of energy than any of the Espers I've fought against before. If I make a wrong move, there's a good chance I'd be torn to pieces without something like Touma's Imagine Breaker. I'd probably need to be a hundred times more careful when dealing with a Level Five than Touma needs to be."

"That's true, but I think if we have the right technology and your skills, we have win." Konori confidently stated, "After all, we all know there are countermeasures when dealing with Level Fives."

"It makes sense there would be." Wataru stated, "If the scientists created Level Fives without having a means of potentially controlling them if they went out of control, they'd be extremely stupid. Jiro should be able to help us out in that department."

Konori replied, "It would be good to have more of that kind of technology available to us."

"Anyway, without any countermeasures, it is hard to say if I could beat that Level Five Touma is fighting against. I might have a chance depending on the circumstances. However, this is Touma's fight, and I'm not going to get involved with that directly." Wataru declared, "There might be a time in the future I might need to stand in for Touma. If that day comes, I'll be ready for it."

Konori was confident in Wataru's words as she happily said, "I'm sure you will be."

/

While Konori and Wataru were discussing matters in the safe house, Touma, a.k.a. the Devil of Academy City, was busy avoiding Mugino's attacks. The following attacks that Touma had to avoid were slightly more intense than the last ones he avoided. He could tell that the beams were hotter, and he needed to be more careful.

As with her previous attacks, Mugino created the four energy balls that floated above her head, and she fired them all at once. Instead of firing them all in a concentrated area, she fired them over a wider range. That way if her opponent tried to dodge one of them, he might end up getting hit by one of the others.

When Mugino fired her attack, Touma was able to jump to the right to avoid the attack heading towards his chest, but he nearly put himself in the area of another attack which was close to where his head would be. Luckily, Touma managed to put his foot down in time to stop his head from hitting the beam. That attack barely missed his head. However, Touma could feel his head become a little hot from that near miss. If he was any closer, his mask would probably begin to melt or worse. However, he knew that he could not focus on that.

In as intimidating of a voice as he could muster, the Devil of Academy City commented, "That was a nice shot. It seemed a little stronger than the last one."

With a gleeful expression, Mugino replied, "Of course it was. You realize I've been holding back on you right?"

That did not seem to surprise Touma as he commented, "I had a feeling you were. I fought against someone who had a similar power as yours. You seem to have better control over your power than he did."

Mugino smirked as she told him, "I would think so."

Touma then stated, "However, there's another big difference between you two."

Before continuing the fight, Mugino decided to humor her masked opponent by asking, "What would that be?" She did not see the harm in asking that.

Touma answered, "He took me serious from the start. You toyed with me at the beginning before you decided to make things more difficult."

"So?" Mugino was failing to see the relevance in what Touma was telling her.

Touma answered in as calm of a voice as he could muster, "It means you do not feel threatened that I can beat you. It doesn't even register in your head that I can win."

Mugino shrugged her shoulders as she casually asked, "So what if I don't? It's not like you stand a chance against a Level Five."

"So you really think that you truly are superior to everyone around you?" There was a bit of venom in the Devil's voice as he asked, "You think that you're automatically better than anyone who isn't a Level Five?"

In an arrogant tone, Mugino answered, "Of course I do. I can do so many things that no one else can do. The best they can do is dream about being able to reach my level. While you may have been able to defeat a number of those inferior lower level Espers, Level Fives are another ballgame. I'm afraid the only way you'll leave here alive is if I let you."

"It's true the power you're capable of is greater than anything I fought before. However, your actions are giving me a few things to go on." Touma's voice sounded confident as he declared, "That's going to let me beat you. I can guarantee that you'll be the one on the ground when this is over." It sounded like he was stating an indisputable fact.

For a moment, Mugino seemed surprised someone would say that to her before she said, "Oh really." As Mugino said that, a smile began to appear on her face. At first it looked innocent, but in the span of a few seconds in transformed into something else. The smile became more unnatural and her eyes were as wide as they could be. She looked like she belonged in a psych ward as she raised her voice, "Let's see what you mean?!

Mugino created the four energy balls around hear head again and fired all four beams at Touma at once. One was aimed at Touma's head, another was aimed at his right leg, another aimed for his stomach, and the last aimed at his left shoulder. As she began firing these energy beams, Touma's body was already moving to avoid these attacks as he jumped to the right and came dangerously close to hitting the alleyway wall again.

After he dodged the attack, Touma immediately reached for his belt. _"She just used up her energy blasts, it'll take her a few seconds to reform them! Now's the right time to strike! Now or never!"_

During the course of their fight, Touma had noticed that similar to his gun, Mugino's energy balls were like ammunition. After she had utilized all four of them, she had reform them which was the equivalent to reloading. Touma knew he could take advantage of that moment between her utilizing the energy balls and recreating them.

Before Mugino could attempt to form the energy balls again, Touma pulled out his gun and fired at Mugino. With a loud bang, the bullet headed straight for his opponent. Before she knew what happened, the bullet pierce through her stomach and went right through. After the bullet pierced through her skin, Mugino was stopped in her tracks with shock as she looked down to see blood starting to trickle out of her stomach.

Touma did not give Mugino enough time to recover from her shock. He fired at her three more times. He shot Mugino in her left shoulder, her right arm, and her left leg which caused her to fall to the ground.

As Mugino fell to the ground, she angrily thought to herself, _"Damn it. I underestimated him." _She then created one energy ball and fired it in Touma's direction.

Before the energy blast was anywhere close to touching him, Touma put forth is right hand and blocked the attack. After the sound of shattering glass was heard, the attack dissipated.

After blocking the attack, Touma saw that Mugino was attempting to get herself off the ground, but she was having difficulty due to the bullet wounds she received in her upper body, stomach, and leg. A small puddle of blood could be seen starting for form underneath her as the blood began to trickle out of her wounds.

She managed to get herself to her knees. Mugino quickly realized that her position made it look like she was surrendering to the Devil of Academy City rather than attempting to get back to her feet. This immediately not only caused her to feel humiliated but angry. She then created another energy blast and launched it at Touma only to have him block it again.

Touma held up his gun and pointed it at Mugino as he told her, "I bet you didn't expect me to do that did you?"

"You might have knocked me off my feet with your cheap shots, but this isn't over." Mugino formed the energy balls around her head again as she managed to get back to her feet, but her feet were a little unsteady. She had to rely on her right leg to remain steady.

"It may not be over yet, but it will be soon." Touma warned Mugino, "I'd rather not shoot you anymore because I'd don't want to kill you, but if you keep going, I won't be held responsible for what happens next. It'd be easier for the both of us if you just surrender."

Mugino gritted her teeth and covered her stomach wound with her right hand. It was a far cry from the arrogant, smug behavior she was giving off before. Her voice was bitter as she asked, "Surrender? You're joking if you'd think I'd do that."

Touma casually replied, "You're right. It was a joke to think you'd listen to reason, and spare yourself some more pain, but I had to try."

After hearing that, Mugino took one step forward as she tried to use some false bravado to cover her weakness, "Don't pretend like you're just some random Level Zero managing to land a few hits on me. The only reason you even stood a chance is because of that strange negating ability you have."

Touma mockingly asked, "Didn't you say a few moments ago, that I didn't stand a chance? It sounds like someone changed her mind."

"Shut up!" Mugino was not even trying to contain her rage at the Devil as she replied, "You asked me if I feel superior to others because I'm a Level Five! Well don't you feel superior to your fellow Big Spider member?! After all, they wouldn't stand a chance against me since I doubt they'd have that same strange ability that you have!"

Touma calmly answered, "I don't feel superior to them at all."

As soon as she heard Touma say that, Mugino lashed out, "That's a load of bull crap! Of course you would! You -"

Before she could say another word, Touma loudly interrupted her, "Someone like you would never understand! That's why you're going to lose!"

"No I won't!" Muguno shouted as she wildly fired all four energy beams at once. None of them appeared to be targeted specifically at the Devil but rather the area around him.

Despite the wild attacks, Touma headed straight for her. Since the attacks were not aimed directly for him, he did not have to move his body too much outside of making sure he was not too close to the blasts and burn himself. Touma felt as if he was moving his feet faster than he ever did before in order to close the gap between himself and Mugino.

After Mugino had finished using up all the energy from the previous attack there was only a five foot gap between herself and Touma. She quickly reformed the energy balls above her head again and would fire directly at Touma. Even with Touma's reflexes, it would be difficult for him to block or dodge an attack that was nearly at point-blank range.

With only a second before Mugino could attack again, the Devil stretched out his arm and roughly grabbed Mugino by the throat and he slammed her body to the ground. "Gaah!" Mugino had the wind knocked out of her after the sudden. She then looked up to see that her energy balls had disappeared. As soon as the Devil had touched her body, the energy balls around Mugino disappeared. It was as if someone cutoff their energy supply or preventing Mugino from being able to fuel them.

Mugino tried to reactivate her power, but nothing was happening. _"What's going on?! It's not working?!"_ Mugino was beginning to panic as she looked up to see the Devil still wearing his dragon mask staring down at her. _"What the hell?! I can't activate my powers! What the hell did he do to me?"_ This was one of the rare occasions that the smug face Mugino usually had worn had transformed to one that was horrified about what would happen next.

"I told you that you'd be the one on the ground, and I told you that you'd lose. As you can see I fulfill my promises." Touma's voice did not sound like he was gloating. He was stating a fact.

"…" Mugino could do nothing but grit her teeth as she looked in his direction.

"I told you that I don't feel superior to my fellow Big Spider fans because I know that there are some things that I'm capable of, and there are things I need to rely on them for. If it weren't for them, I would have died a long time ago." Mugino remained silent as Touma spoke. She was not in a position to interrupt him, "We may not always be able to fight these battles together, but we still work together as a team, and we provide the roles we can. They've helped me become strong. Obviously, someone like you would never understand a simple concept like that. After all, you've had people help you too, but you're too blind to see it. "

"…" Once again Mugino refused to say anything.

"You want to know something else?" Touma did not wait for Mugino to answer before he went right on saying, "That other player that I told you about who had similar powers as yours. He may not have been capable of as much power or control as you, but he took me seriously from the start which made him very dangerous. He was a much better opponent than you." As soon as Touma said that, the rage on Mugino's face was easy to see. "Quite frankly, for a Level Five, you've been slightly disappointing."

Mugino had enough of his little speeches as she began to angrily say, "Why yo-"

The Devil punched Mugino in the stomach before she had a chance to say another word. He then used the strength in both his arms to force her back onto her feet while making sure his right hand kept a hold of her body to prevent her from activating her powers. He then forced her against the wall while maintaining a grip on her neck.

As far as she could remember, this was the first time Mugino felt helpless. She knew that there was nothing she could do about this person. The only thing she could do was listen to him say, "Don't worry. You didn't put up a terrible fight. You really kept me moving, but you were far from my best opponent." He then pulled back his left fist as he told her, "Now it's time you take a nap."

The Devil punched Mugino's face as hard as he could with his left fist which caused her head to hit against the wall before she fell down to the ground flat on her stomach. She was unconscious and incapable of continuing the battle. The Devil of Academy City had won. He had defeated one of the Level Five Espers.

As the Devil looked upon Mugino's unconscious body, he thought, _"She may have been a Level Five, but she was far from invincible. I think Jūhō was a bigger challenge than her. However, if I have to fight her again, that might be different."_ He seemed tempted to do something else for a moment, but Touma told himself, _"No. I won't do something like that, especially when my opponent is unconscious."_

/

There was no time for Touma to celebrate his victory when he heard the familiar sounds of Anti-Skill vehicles approaching. When he heard this, Touma thought, _"These guys really must enjoy showing up too late don't they?"_ He looked back to Mugino who was still bleeding from her bullet wounds and thought, _"They should be able to get her some treatment."_

As Touma was about to make his exit, he heard a voice behind him say, "You managed to beat Mugino? That was 'super' impressive." A girl wearing a hoodie along with a blond girl stepped out of the shadows.

The blond girl said, "It's amazing that you basically have her at your mercy." As she spoke, this girl spoke in an accent that made it clear she was not Japanese. She was one of the few foreigners to reside within Academy City.

"To be accurate, you would have her at your mercy if it wasn't for us, which is super unfortunate for you." The girl in the hoodie attempted to sound scary as she said that. However, her strange tendency to use the word 'super' in almost every sentence she spoke caused the threat to lose some of its impact.

Touma was not in the mood to deal with anyone else as he asked in annoyed tone, "Who are you?"

The girl in the hoodie replied, "It's 'super' rude to ask someone else for their name without introducing yourself first.

"…" Touma remained silent as he thought, _"She's got a point." _

Seeing that she was not going to get an answer, the hoodie girl began to say, "Seeing that you don't plan on telling us your real name Devil-san, I don't see any sup-"

Before she could finish, the hoodie girl's blond friend interrupted her as she introduced them, "My name is Frenda Sheivelun and her name is Kinuhata Saiai."

The hoodie girl who was identified as Kihuhata Saiai glared at Frenda as she said in a tone that indicated that she was clearly pissed, "That was 'super' uncool you 'super' idiot."

Frenda scratched the back of her head as she awkwardly replied, "Sorry. I 'basically' got carried away."

Touma could not help but think, _"That hoodie girl really likes to say the word 'super' a lot. What's her deal with that word?"_

Saiai shook her head in annoyance as she told Frenda, "We don't have a super amount of time before the Anti-Skill gets here, so just get on with it."

"Right." Frenda sounded more serious as she stepped forward and she appeared to be getting ready to make a move.

Touma stated, "Since that's the case, maybe we should settle this another time. After all, I doubt you'd want to be caught by the Anti-Skill either."

Saiai replied, "We don't have as much to lose if we get caught. You're the one who'd have more problems if the Anti-Skill arrested you. Not like we're giving you a chance."

Before Touma could say anything, he saw Frenda grab something from under her skirt and pulled out several explosives much to Touma's surprise. The moment he saw that, he thought, _"How the hell did she hide that?"_

"Bombs away!" Frenda threw the explosives in Touma's direction. He could see that she was smiling as she attempted to incinerate someone she did not even know to dust.

A few seconds after Frenda threw her bombs at Touma, a gunshot could be heard and it hit one of the bombs which caused it to go off. Touma and Saiai were able to maintain their ground despite the explosion while Frenda was knocked off her feet. Another gunshot was heard and this time it was Saiai who took the hit. As soon as the bullet hit her, she was sent to the ground.

After Ichirou shot the explosive in midair, he immediately put the other girl in his sites, and he aimed for the girl's shoulder. Even though he recognized her as being an enemy Esper, he was hesitant to kill a little girl. While a shoulder shot could still be fatal, he figured she would still have a better chance of surviving.

When he shot at the other girl, the bullet made contact and it sent the girl to the ground. He could tell, he hit her directly, but something was not right. As far as he could tell from his scope, the girl may have been sent to the ground, but she did not appear to be bleeding from her apparent wound unlike Mugino.

Touma did not wait around long enough to find out what was going on. He used this opportunity to get out of there before the Anti-Skill could arrive or give those girls another chance to attack him. Before either of those two girls could get back on their feet, Touma was long gone.

Frenda managed to get on her feet and ran over to Saiai and asked in a concerned voice, "Are you okay Saiai?"

Saiai got up from the ground seemingly unfazed. "I'm 'super' fine, but that was 'super' close. I'm 'super' lucky the shooter decided to shoot your explosives first. Otherwise I wouldn't have had enough time to activate my 'super' ability."

Frenda noticed that the Devil managed to get away while they were distracted as she said in a disappointed tone, "He escaped. That's basically no fun."

Saiai did not seem to be too troubled by this turn of events as she commented, "It might be for the best. We are 'super' running out of time. Getting Mugino out of here is super important right now. She does seem to be in 'super' need of medical attention."

Frenda reluctantly replied, "Okay." The two of them grabbed Mugino and dragged her out of there just before the Anti-Skill arrived on the scene.

/

As Touma was attempting to make his escape the sounds of the Anti-Skill were drawing ever closer. However, he quickly received a signal on his communicator. He was not surprised to see that it was a call from Ichirou.

When Touma answered the call, the first thing Ichirou asked was, "That was a little too close for comfort wouldn't you agree?"

Touma commented, "Wataru was right about your sharpshooting skills. You helped end that problem."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Ichirou's voice sounded more serious as he told Touma, "Anyway, I'll tell you the best route to get out of here. I'm listening to my fellow Anti-Skills' communications and they haven't covered where you are yet, but you'll want to make a right turn where you'll see a lot of dumpsters. You'll meet up with me and I'll guide us the rest of the way."

Touma replied, "Sounds good to me." Touma followed Ichirou's instructions and they managed to escape without a hitch.

/

**Location: Unknown**

After managing the escape the area, the Espers known as **Frenda Sheivelun** and **Kinuhata Saiai** brought the Level Five, Mugino, to receive some medical treatment. The two of them were treated for minor injuries as well. They both only had a few scrapes, so after a little bit of ointment and bandages, they were fine.

/

**Frenda Sheivelun** – She had long blond hair and blue eyes, and she liked wearing a dark beret. Frenda seemed to be fond of wearing black sailor tops with a pleated skirt along with a dark-colored panty hose. She was hardly ever seen wearing anything else. Apparently, she greatly valued her legs and called them her 'pride as a woman.' Generally, she would have a cheerful face when she was not in combat, but her personality would take a massive shift when she was engaged in combat. She also had a habit of using the words, 'Basically' or 'In the end' when she talks to other people.

She was one of the few non-Japanese people who reside within Academy City. The official records of Academy City do not list her official Esper Level nor her ability. It was rumored that she was a Level Four, but there was no way to confirm this. Apparently, someone wished to keep her abilities secret. Frenda was one of the few Espers who choose to fight without using her Esper power.

She specialized in utilizing close combat and array of concealed weapons. Frenda was especially fond of using explosives and creating traps. Some people who've encountered her and survived have theorized that her use of explosives and create traps along with her unexplained ability to carry so many of them at once was related to her unknown Esper abilities, but she never confirmed nor denied it.

/

**Kinuhata Saiai** – Another young girl who appeared to be a pre-teen. She had short brown hair that was in a bobcut style. She wore an orange hoodie and extremely short blue shorts. Similar to Frenda, Saia had a verbal tic of her own. For some reason, Saiai enjoyed saying the word 'Super' in almost every sentence she spoke. It was a habit she had no intention of breaking, and it was unlikely she was going to ever consider breaking it anytime soon.

Saiai's ability was known as '**Offense Armor**' also known as '**Nitrogen Armor**.' It was a Level Four ability that allowed Saiai to control the nitrogen in the air which would allow her to create a thin barrier around her. Her ability was somewhat similar to Accelerator's. While it was not nearly as powerful, it was still strong in its own right.

The armor was effective enough to prevent bullets from handguns or sniper rifles from being able to penetrate her body. In addition to creating a defensive shield, her ability allows her to control compressed masses of nitrogen that would allow her to lift heavy objects like cars and possibly destroy walls. However, her '**Offense Armor**' has limits. Even if she is capable of blocking something, she can still be sent flying if the force that hit her was strong enough.

/

While Frenda and Saiai's injuries were minor, Mugino on the other hand would require more intensive care. While her condition was stable, she did lose a bit of blood, and at least one of the bullets were stuck in her body that needed to be removed. It was a good thing that Frenda and Saiai helped get Mugino to their hideout when they did. Otherwise, her injuries could have become worse than they were.

As Frenda and Saiai sat on a couch, someone spoke to them over the loudspeaker, "You did fine work with bringing Melterdowner here. Excellent work."

Frenda replied in a disappointed tone, "Yeah, but the Devil managed to escape in the end."

The speaker replied, "That is a matter that can be settled another time. What's important is that Melterdowner knows that she might not be as capable in fighting solo as she believed."

"So basically you wanted Mugino to lose to the Devil." Frenda asked in a curious tone. Saiai sat their silently and did not seem surprised that was probably the case. In fact, she seemed to expect that was the truth.

Instead of answering that question, the speaker replied, "Let's just say that one defeat can lead to many victories in the future. I'm sure the Melterdowner will understand that after what happened to her today."

"This seems super devious of you to do that, but I guess I shouldn't be shocked by this." Saiai casually commented. "However, I'm super interested in what you have in mind for us in the future. Do you really want us to form a team together? Mugino doesn't strike me as the type of person to get along with."

The voice on the speaker replied, "You'd be surprised by how much can change in different circumstances. You'd be correct that having the three of you along with another Esper to form a team of four would be ideal. As for what we'd like to accomplish with the four of you, you'll learn more about it in due time. For now, let's wait for the Melterdowner to recover a little." The speaker then ended her transmission.

Frenda looked to her friend and asked, "Who do you think will be the fourth member of the team?"

"I don't particularly care." Saiai stated in a nonchalant tone, "However, if I had to ask, I'd say that **Takisubo Rikou** is a 'super' likely candidate given her abilities."

Frenda asked, "Are you sure about that?"

"I'm 'super' sure." Saiai stated, "Anyway, we should wait to see if Mugino would be even interested in forming this group. Given what happened to hear, I'm 'super' sure she's going to want revenge no matter what."

In a nervous tone, Frenda stated, "You're probably right. I wouldn't want to be in the Devil's shoes, especially with someone like Mugino as an enemy. I almost feel sorry for what will happen to him."

/

**Location: Alleyways close to Kasutamumedo**

As with the other recent incidents, the Anti-Skill arrived in time to just barely miss the action. All they saw were the remains of what happened. An area torn apart by Mugino's energy beams and traces of the explosives that Frenda tried to kill Touma with. There were also several bullets scattered around the area as well. It would take quite a bit of money to fix the damage that was done to the area.

While they were there, they found out from some of the employees at the Kasutamumedo, who were regaining consciousness, that they were assaulted and rendered unconscious by some unknown people. It was more than obvious to the Anti-Skill that the break-in at the company and the incident before them were connected. Unfortunately, they lacked the pieces to put the puzzle together. All they had were shattered fragments and the testimony of guards who were knocked out before they knew what hit them.

As Yomikawa gazed upon the area, she commented to herself, "We always get her too late don't we?" No one seemed to hear her words.

Her fellow Anti-Skill, Saigou Ryouta, asked, "What happened here? It looks kind of similar to the rail yard incident don't you think?"

"It does have similarities but I'm not sure that's all that happened." Yomikawa noticed the explosion appeared to be different from some of the other destruction in the area. She also noticed several of the bullets on the ground. Several of them likely came from a handgun while another bullet or two appeared to come from a sniper rifle. The caliber of the bullets were familiar to her. Yomikawa thought, _"Interesting. Very interesting." _Yomikawa looked over at her fellow Anti-Skills and said, "We'll need forensics on the scene immediately."

Ryouta replied, "Don't worry. They're on their way."

Yomikawa looked back at the different bullets scattered in the area as she thought, _"I'm willing to bet this is another event involving the Devil of Academy City. Once again the Anti-Skill are too late to witness an incident involving him. He definitely appears to be getting some help, and at least one of those people seem to know how to use a sniper rifle. Someone high up is definitely affecting our ability to mobilize faster."_ Yomikawa put her hand to her chin as she thought, _"Who is doing it and why? Are they his allies or is there something else going on here? Something tells me the latter is more likely."_

/

**Location: Big Spider Safe House**

Ichirou and Touma made their way to the Safe House to wait for things to cool down outside. Similar to Jiro, Ichirou decided to rest in his room while Touma spoke with Konori and Wataru. Ichirou also needed to be ready in case the Anti-Skill needed to call him in. Despite what happened, he doubted he would be needed since the incident was over before the Anti-Skill could even arrive.

Shortly after Touma reunited with his friend, Konori happily said, "I'm glad that you're okay Kamijou-kun."

Touma tried to sound cool as he told his friends, "You didn't have to worry about me. Everything was under control."

Wataru sarcastically remarked, "I'm sure it was, but I think we'll like to know why some of your clothes are little burned." Both Wataru and Konori saw that some parts of Touma's clothes were damaged due to the heat of Mugino's energy beams.

Touma defensive replied, "I didn't say there weren't close calls."

Wataru asked, "You tried to conveniently leave out that detail didn't you?"

"Does it really matter now? I beat her." Touma's tone went from defensive to sounding more casual as he told them, "Besides, she wasn't as tough as Juho was. He may not have been as powerful as she was, but he was a lot harder to takedown."

Wataru commented, "Ichirou believes she was holding back."

"She told me she as. However, the fact she was toying with me meant she didn't actually believe I had a chance at winning." Touma smirked as he told his friends, "That left her open for a surprise attack, and everything fell apart after that. She obviously didn't do her research on me because she'd know I've used guns before."

"Don't get too cocky Touma," Wataru warned in a grave tone, "If you meet her again, I'm sure she'll be ready to deal with you. Unless she's an idiot, she'll try to avoid making the same mistake twice."

Touma changed his attitude after hearing Wataru's warning as he spoke seriously, "Maybe, but I'll make sure I'm ready too."

Konori asked, "How do you plan on doing that?"

"The only reason this went relatively well was due to my training. I have to make sure to keep it up." Touma was not ashamed to admit, "I'll need both you and Wataru is help me with that."

Wataru seemed to lighten up after hearing Touma say that. "It's really refreshing to hear you say that you need help."

"Shut up." Touma said in a playful voice.

Konori could not help but smile as she said, "Well it's good to hear you say that you need our help. I'll do what I can, and I'm sure Watru will do the same."

"Yeah, yeah. That's enough of this cheesy conversation." Wataru's voice began to sound more serious again as he told Touma, "There's something else we need to talk about."

Touma asked, "About what?"

"Do I really need to point out the obvious?" Wataru bluntly told Touma, "We need to talk about the fact someone had a Level Five Esper in the area. What happened back there would mean a number of scenarios might happen because she wasn't there by accident."

Touma commented, "Well she did say that she was my 'executioner,' so she was basically telling us she was working for someone. Do you think it was the Kihara that sent her and those friends of hers?"

Wataru stated, "I'd say the odds of that being the case are pretty good. It also means the Kiharas might have a good idea what our next move might be even before we make it. They might try something like this again."

In a determined voice, Touma told Wataru, "They can try to pull anything they want. They'll slip up, and I'll find them. You can be sure of that."

Konori stated in a worried voice, "Kamijou-san they might lure you into another trap. It could be worse next time."

That did not deter Touma from his objective. "Regardless of the risks, I can't back down from trying to find these Kiharas. I'm sure they are connected to what happened to my friends in Child Error facility. I need to find them and make them face the justice they deserve."

"I'm not saying they don't deserve to face justice." Konori stated, "I'm just saying that we need to be careful."

Touma considered Konori and Wataru's words as he told them, "I know, but you don't have to worry about that. I think I might know something I can do to help my odds, but it'll still be risky."

Wataru asked, "You plan on relying on that freelance spy of yours?"

Touma replied in a defensive tone, "He's been helpful to me before. I'm sure he'll be helpful again as long as we make a contract."

"I'm not saying that." Wataru asked in a stern voice, "Do you trust him?"

Touma answered in a hesitant voice, "I wouldn't use that word exactly. However, I know when he makes a contract, he keeps it. Additionally, despite his attitude, I can tell he's disgusted with a few things in Academy City too."

"Even if that's true Kamijou-san, it might not be a good idea to talk to him." Touma could tell by the sound of Konori's voice she did not like his freelance spy for good reason. "For all we know, he could've been hired to set up that little fight you had with that Level Five Esper. After all, he is a freelance spy."

Touma acknowledged Konori's point as he told her, "I know it might not be ideal, and I know there are risks in hiring him just like there are risks in not hiring him. That's why if you two don't want to come with me next time I'd be fine with that." He tried to keep a straight face as he told her, "You don't have to risk your lives for me."

"That's funny. Didn't you say you needed our help a few minutes ago?" It was hard to tell if Wataru was annoyed or confused by what Touma was saying.

"That was for training." Touma clarified, "Training and doing a mission like this are two entirely different things. You shouldn't have to risk your lives for something that doesn't have anything to do with you. My issues with the Kiharas are a personal issue after all." Touma tried to reassure his friends, "Besides, it's not like I'd go alone. I know that doing something like this alone would be crazy, but I think I might know others who would be fine with risking their lives, so you don't have to."

"You can stop saying things like that Kamijou-san. We're coming with you." The sound in Konori's voice was both determined and filled with conviction as she told him, "Wherever the next mission to locate these Kiharas takes us, we'll be there to help you. What's personal for you is personal for us. We're friends after all."

Wataru casually told Touma, "Besides, what kind of boss would I be if I let my subordinate do something I wasn't willing to risk my own life for."

Hearing his friends say that to him caused Touma to smile as he told them, "Thanks. I appreciate it. I really do."

/

**Location: Windowless Building**

**Several Days Later**

A few days after the fight between Mugino and the Devil of Academy City, Tsuchimikado found himself in the Windowless Building to speak with the founder of Academy City, Aleister Cromley. As usual, Aleister was resting upside down within a strange tube filled with liquid. It was unknown what that liquid was exactly, but that liquid and the machine he was in was apparently essential in keeping him alive.

As the Tsuchimikado approached Aleister, he began to speak. "It has come to my attention that the Imagine Breaker has defeated a Level Five." While his tone was generally monotone, there was a small hint in it that he was impressed by Touma's accomplishment.

Tsuchimikado asked in an uncertain tone, "It was the result you wanted right?"

Aleister answered, "Based on the Imagine Breakers's records and experience, this outcome was within my calculations."

"You always like to say that don't you? You act like you've got every single one of us figured out to the tee." There was a slight hint of disgust in Tsuchimikado's voice as she spoke to Aleister. He was not afraid to make his disgust for the man known. Aliester was well aware of it himself, but he did not care.

Aleister stated in a matter of fact tone, "You should know by now that it isn't an act Tsuchimikado-kun. It is the reality of the situation." There was an undertone of arrogance in his voice despite the fact it generally sounded rather calm and emotionless.

Tsuchimikado replied in an annoyed tone, "Tch. You know one of these days things are not going to go according to your calculations. When that happens, everything is going to fall apart for you."

Aleister stated, "That is a doubtful outcome."

Tsuchimikado replied, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Aleister could be seen grinning as he continued to float upside down within his capsule. He appeared be amused by Tsuchimikado's comment. Similar to how Mugino did not think there was a chance Touma could beat her, Aleister was convinced that nothing Tsuchimikado was saying was within the realm of possibility.

Tsuchimikado asked in a curious tone, "Now that Kami-yan's defeated a Level Five, what else are you going to do now?"

Aleister answered, "Nothing for now. I don't need to do much of anything at this moment. I already know that MEMBER plans on sending another opponent his way."

Tsuchimikado seemed confused by that as he asked, "Didn't he already beat up their best guy? Who else could they send?"

"I'm sure you know about other things they have in their arsenal." Aliester stated, "I look forward to seeing how the Imagine Breaker will handle himself against an opponent who didn't originate from science." He seemed to legitimately be interested in knowing what will happen in the next fight. 

Based on what Aliester said Tsuchimikado came to his own conclusion of what he meant when he asked, "His next opponent is going to be a Magician?"

Aleister replied, "Indeed. The matchup between a wielder of Magic against the Imagine Breaker will be interesting to observe."

Tsuchimikado sarcastically remarked, "You already figured out the answer to whose going to win don't you?"

Aleister grinned as he replied, "There's a certain satisfaction of knowing you're right and knowing it be indisputably proven." The fact Aleister was making a grin that appeared upside down from Tsuchimikado's perspective annoyed him more than if he was right side up for some reason. He could not really put his finger on why that annoyed him more, but it did.

Tsuchimikado stated, "If you always have everything figured out it makes one wonder what you need us for."

"I think you should know the answer to that as well. However, I will remind you." Even though Aliester's voice was emotionless, Tsuchimikado could not help but feel an arrogant vibe coming from Aliester with every word he spoke. "You may think I'm guilty of the sin of hubris, but I can assure you that I'm not guilty of true hubris. True hubris is when you believe you can do everything yourself. Pawns and subordinates are always a necessity. However, it is also a necessity to make sure they remain useful and know what to do with them when they are no longer valuable assets."

Tsuchimikado stated, "Fine. If you don't mind, I have another job to attend to."

"Go ahead." Aliester almost sounded encouraging before he then stated, "You're other work is of no consequence to me."

Tsuchimikado turned around and began walking way as he said to Aliester out loud, "I didn't think so." He approached the Windowless Building's authorized teleporter Awaki who proceeded to teleport him out of the building.

Even though there was no one else left to hear him, Aleister spoke out loud, "Your actions are of no consequence to me at all."

/

**Location: Esper Training Facility – Outside of Misaka Mikoto's Training Room**

**Approximately a week after Touma defeated Mugino**

Despite Touma taking actions months ago, it was only a matter of time before his family found out that he was missing. However, any tracks to finding him were either covered up or long gone. Touma's father, Kamijou Touya, attempted to find him, but it was to no avail. He made sure that Academy City recognized his son was a missing person before he was forced to leave.

News of Touma's disappearance in Academy City eventually became known to the Misaka family. Touma's childhood friend, Misaka Mikoto, was having an important conversation with her mother, Misaka Misuru, over the phone. Misuru was informing her daughter regarding Touma's disappearance. She had been informed by Touma's parents regarding Touma's disappearance and decided she needed to pass that information to her daughter.

Mikoto said in horror, "This can't be true." Her mother had just finished telling her daughter the news of Touma's disappearance.

"I am sorry Mikoto-chan but it is." Misuru said this in an exasperated tone. "Touma has been missing for months, and there are no clues to his whereabouts. The Anti-Skill are still trying their best."

Mikoto demanded, "How long have they been searching?"

Misuru honestly did not know too much about the situation other than what Shiina told her. "For a little over a week, but there have been no leads."

Mikoto's voice was becoming more desperate. "No this can't be happening!" She put her right hand to her forehead in an effort to keep her head on straight.

Misuru tried her best to calm her daughter down. "It's going to be okay Mikoto-chan. The Anti-Skill are going to get to the bottom of this case, and they will find Touma-san. I just know it."

This did make Mikoto feel a little better. "I hope your right." Mikoto sniffed, "I would never be able to forgive myself if Touma doesn't come back."

Hearing that confused Misuru. "Why do you feel that way Mikoto-chan?"

"It's because I am the one that convinced Touma to come to Academy City." Tears began to build up in her eyes and her voice became increasingly halting. "I promised Touma that we would always be able to spend time together, and we would always be friends," Mikoto paused before continuing with tears falling down her face, "but I've failed."

Misuru tried to stop her daughter, "That's not true Mikoto-chan!"

"It is." Mikoto reflected on how she has been more focused on becoming a stronger Esper rather than trying to spend time with Touma. "I became so wrapped up in the idea of becoming a powerful Esper that I lost sight of what should be important." Mikoto paused for a moment before continuing, "Touma's my best friend. He accepted me, and I accepted him. I promised I would be there for him, but the only things I've done has been meeting him on specific occasions and getting jealous of how many friends he had made. I lost sight of what it means to be his friend. I should have been happy for him instead of being jealous. I doubt he still thinks of me as his friend any longer."

Misuru had enough of that. "Don't be so hard on yourself Mikoto-chan! I am sure Touma-san still considers you to be his friend. When he is found, he can tell you that himself."

Mikoto wiped the tears from her face. "I hope so. When I meet Touma again, things are going to be different. I will fulfill my promise to him."

/

**Omake**:

Touma: _(Breathing heavily and looking exhausted) _These past two chapters have been a rather exhausting experience for me.

Mikoto: Yeah I know. First you had to finish that fight with Jūhō and now you are about to begin a fight with the Level Five Mugino Shizuri. Intense life and death battles really can take a lot out of you. I am pretty certain the author must be exhausted with this too.

Touma: I wouldn't be surprised by that. This makes me glad that we have nearly reached Part VI of the Devil's Reign storyline.

Mikoto: Why do you say that? Aren't you going to have more fight scenes as the Devil of Academy City?

Touma: Maybe, but regardless of whether that is the case or not, the next chapter will be more of a breather episode for me.

Mikoto: How so?

Touma: In the next chapter, besides seeing a few fights, we will be receiving some fan service.

Mikoto: What kind of fan service?

Touma: It will be of the bathing kind.

Mikoto: _(Her cheeks heat up at the thought of what Touma was saying)_ The bathing kind?

Touma: That's right. Next time, Konori, Wataru, and I will be visiting a bath house in the underground town of Academy City similar to when my canon counterpart visited a bath house with Itsuwa and Index in Volume Sixteen of the light novels.

Mikoto: Sounds like you are going to be in for an interesting experience.

Touma: Who says you are going to have a few interesting experiences yourself.

Mikoto: What do you mean?

Touma: Uh nothing. We are just going to have to wait to find out.

Mikoto: Don't give me that! I want to know what you mean by that!

Touma: (Panicking) Sorry! I can't tell you! (He looks to the audience) See you next time and be sure to leave reviews!

/

**Author Notes**: This marks the first time Touma has managed to defeat a Level Five Esper under the guise as the Devil of Academy City. You can expect to see Touma combat other Level Five Espers in the future. As we all know, Touma has to fight Kakine and Mikoto at least once at some point, so you can expect at least two more Level Five Esper fights in the future.

As stated in the omake, there will be some fanservice in the next chapter. For those of you who are members of the Index Facebook group I am one of the administrators, I provided a preview for the 'bath scene' during August 2012. I wrote a rough draft of that scene as a birthday gift to one of my readers. After writing a number of chapters for this story and my other three stories, "Fairy Dance Alternate," "The Kirita Chronicles," and "Into the Fog" it is almost time for me to officially publish that scene for this story.

I hope you like the little glimpse I gave you regarding Jūhō's past. I wanted to give you some ideas regarding the accident that Jūhō went through, but there are still a few other things that happened in the past that I still did not want to reveal to you. For example, I purposely did not reveal who he was speaking to, so you can be left guessing about his or her identity, but I can tell you that Jūhō's friend is someone you have encountered in this story before. Additionally, while being burned and causing that destruction certainly would have traumatized Jūhō, it still might not have been enough to completely stop him from reaching the power of a Level Five Esper. There was something more that happened that completely left him disillusioned.

Having my chapters containing flashbacks has more or less become my style in my other story, "The Kirita Chronicles," and I've been pleased with how I've been able to expand upon my characters. Similar to Lost, I plan on both main characters and supporting characters to have their pasts shown more through flashbacks and/or dreams in both "Of Science and Magics: The Side Stories" and "The Kirita Chronicles." I've always liked how the flashbacks in that series allowed us to get to know the characters more and provide more explanations for why they do certain things, what haunts them, or who they are connected to.

Originally, I planned on creating a flashback story similar to Story Arc Three "Tales of a Child Error" which focused on Yuudai or Bleach's "Turn Back the Pendulum" and "Everything but the Rain." However, I've decided that instead of making you wait that long for all the characters, I will give tidbits of different characters' pasts. This way you will get to know more of my versions of the canon characters or my original characters much sooner than you would have otherwise. Some other characters I want to give some flashbacks to are Michiko and Wataru. Michiko is going to be a lot of fun for me to write. Although, based on certain plans I have, there might be another flashback story arc eventually, but it will not happen for a while.

I'm extremely happy about Jūhō's positive reception. He was a character that I had a lot of fun planning, and I was excited to bring him to life in this story. I'm also pleased by the popularity of the Jūhō and Michiko pairing in this story as well. I've enjoyed writing and planning them so much, that I've even created alternate versions of Jūhō and Michiko in my other stories, "The Kirita Chronicles" and "Fairy Dance Alternate." Unlike this story, they are not villains in that story, but I guess you would not really call them villains in this story under the strictest definition of that word.

Regarding Touma's fight with Mugino, as you know Mugino is a prideful individual who is extremely arrogant. For those of you who have not read the Light Novels, this will be a **spoiler**. Before Mugino received any character development, she generally thought very little of lower-level Espers. It was those character flaws that led to her defeat at the hands of Hamazura Shiage, a Level Zero who had no powers, in Volume 15 of the Light Novel. As a result, unlike Jūhō who tries to avoid underestimating his enemies, it would make sense that Mugino would understatement the Devil of Academy City since he is not deemed a Level Five despite his supposed abilities. As far as she was concerned, he was someone she could have fun with and not someone who might have a chance of beating her. She paid for that mistake. You will have to wait and see what happens next.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and will provide reviews. I greatly appreciate the feedback, and they provide me with a lot of motivation to keep writing my stories beyond having fun with writing them. Receiving reviews means a lot to me, and I hope you will write them. Additionally, I hope you will participate in the **poll** I mentioned at the author notes on the first page is regarding which story or stories you would want to see me put more focus on during 2015. You will have two choices. Until next time.


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